Vacation of a Lifetime
by Yondaime Namikaze
Summary: After months of begging, Prim convinces the family to take a relaxing short summer cruise. Upon hearing about the upcoming trip, Katniss immediately becomes nervous about it, but will the emergence of a new friend help? AU. Based partly on a true experience.
1. Preparations

**So…I'm back with another Hunger Games fanfic. This one wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it down. Backstory time! Last summer…almost a year ago now…I went on a cruise with my family. Now, a year later, I decided to write down what I did in the hopes that it would be forever memorialized. Some details in this story are based on real-life experience…aside from the whole "meeting Peeta" thing. Why couldn't that have happened to me? Anyway, others play on things that I experienced and there are still others that were twisted in just for this story.**

**A word on story structure…though I'm not usually a fan of this type of story, I will be writing a short (chapter-wise) story with long chapters. Therefore, it kinda sorta balances out a little. Once we get going, each chapter will reflect a day with the cruise vacation. It's going to be a lot different than the structure of my other Hunger Games fanfic "Yours To Hold", that's for sure.**

**Well, I believe that is all. I really hope everyone enjoys this story because I've been wanting to write a Hunger Games AU for the longest time and the opportunity has finally presented itself.**

* * *

_[Linda Ronstadt]_  
_Somewhere out there_  
_Beneath the pale moon light_  
_Someone's thinking of me_  
_And loving me tonight_

_[James Ingram]_  
_Somewhere out there_  
_Someone's saying a prayer_  
_That we'll find one another_  
_In that big somewhere out there_

_And even though I know how very far apart we are_  
_It helps to think we might be wishing_  
_On the same bright star_

_[Linda Ronstadt]_  
_And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby_  
_It helps to think we're sleeping_  
_Underneath the same big sky_

_[Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram]_  
_Somewhere out there_  
_If love can see us through_  
_Then we'll be together_  
_Somewhere out there_  
_Out where dreams come true_

_[musical interlude]_

_[James Ingram]_  
_And even though I know how very far apart we are_  
_It helps to think we might be wishing_  
_On the same bright star_

_[Linda Ronstadt]_  
_And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby_  
_It helps to think we're sleeping_  
_Underneath the same big sky_

_[Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram]_  
_Somewhere out there_  
_If love can see us through (can see us through)_  
_Then we'll be together_  
_Somewhere out there_  
_Out where dreams come true_  
...

Chapter 1: Preparations

"Can we go on a cruise? I really want to!"

Katniss looked up from her school textbook at the sound of her sister trying to again convince their parents to take a cruise sometime in the near future. How many times was this now that Prim had asked them that question? Katniss has lost count weeks ago…maybe months ago. It was definitely not a new question to be brought up in the Everdeen household.

"Prim, go do your schoolwork," was the answer from their mother. Just like always, their answer neither affirmed or declined their youngest daughter's suggestion.

"I already did my homework. Please, please, please can we go on a cruise? I've always heard that they're so much fun!"

Mrs. Everdeen went back to cooking dinner and Prim, not entirely satisfied by the silent treatment from her mother, went upstairs to their bedroom. Katniss went back to her textbook. She usually tried to get her homework done at school because she knew that it was hard to concentrate on it at home.

Dinner that night was fairly quiet and Katniss briefly wondered if Prim was sick. She was always so energetic and outgoing, the direct opposite of Katniss herself. After dinner, Katniss joined Prim upstairs in their bedroom. She hoped that the quiet upstairs would help her to concentrate on her still unfinished homework.

"I really do want to go on a cruise, Katniss. Do you think Mom and Dad don't want to?" Prim asked her suddenly.

Setting her book aside, Katniss replied, "I don't even begin to understand how they think, but don't worry. Everything will work out. It always does."

"Yeah, I guess so." Prim could tell that Katniss wanted to finish her homework, so she walked to the bookcase and picked up a book to read.

By the time Katniss finished all of her homework, it was late and they had to get to bed for another day of school. Katniss made sure that Prim was comfortably in bed before she switched off the light, but she had no problem getting back to the bed; the streetlamps outside their bedroom window ensured that.

Most nights, it was hard to sleep well. Because the Everdeen family home lie on the main city road, there were many nights where the girls would be woken by emergency response vehicles and there always seemed to be that one idiot who insisted on blaring their radio, despite it being after midnight. Tonight was no exception. The girls had gotten better at sleeping through the loud sounds outside, but it still would wake up Katniss occasionally.

Morning came too soon and Katniss was definitely not a morning person. The alarm, which sat on a nightstand under the window, blared its call and Katniss dragged herself out of bed to shut it off. Once the shrill tone had ceased, she walked over to the other bed and made sure that Prim was awake. When she was satisfied that Prim was fully awake and would not sneak back to sleep, Katniss grabbed her clothes for the day and headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower. After she finished and had changed, she checked her cell phone to see if Gale had texted, but it was then she realized that she had never answered him back. Promising to do it later (since she'd see him soon enough anyway), she headed downstairs to grab a small breakfast.

Right on time, Gale's old, beat-up car pulled up outside. Everyday, he drove Katniss and Prim to school and back home. The girls entered on the right side of the car, Katniss in the passenger seat and Prim in back, to avoid having to walk into the street. Just as he did each day, he stopped at the middle school to drop off Prim, promising to be back as soon as the high school let out…and Katniss was ready.

At the high school after Gale parked his car in the student lot, Gale and Katniss split up, heading to where they needed to go for the day. Sometimes Katniss really hated that Gale was a year older than her. She knew that she would see him at lunch in a few hours, but he was her only friend and she would be completely alone until then.

Just like always, the day dragged by. Between classes, she would sneak in text messages to Gale. She had gotten good at this "hide the phone whenever a teacher passed by" trick. Finally, it was time for lunch. It was a beautiful spring day so Katniss and Gale decided to eat lunch in the school's fenced-in courtyard. Contrary to the rest of the day, lunch always went by so fast and, before Katniss knew it, she was saying goodbye to Gale once again for the rest of the day.

After lunch, Katniss always had trouble concentrating on her classes. Her mind was hours ahead, waiting for the time when she could meet back up with Gale and climb into his car. Finally, the hours passed and, at 2:55 PM, the final bell rang, signaling the end of another day. Katniss quickly exited the class and went to her locker to grab what she needed for that night. She did not want to keep Gale or her little sister waiting. Prim already had to wait close to a half hour each day for Gale to arrive at the middle school.

Finishing, Katniss met up with Gale and they walked out to his car together. Just like everyday, he asked her the familiar question. "How were your classes today, Catnip?"

With a small smile, Katniss gave him her usual answer. "Slow."

Just like always, when all the student drivers tried to leave at the same time, a mini-traffic jam occurred. Katniss always felt bad for making her little sister wait, but Gale always did his best to get there as soon as he could. Once a pattern for exiting the parking lot was established, it was always easier to leave, but sometimes it would take awhile for the other drivers to catch on to the pattern.

Once they had exited the parking lot, Gale was able to make it to the middle school in five minutes. Like always, Prim was waiting outside for them to arrive. Gale drove in through the bus loop and parked near the main entrance of the school. As soon as the car was stopped, Prim climbed into the same seat she had chosen in the morning, the seat she always sat in when she rode in Gale's car.

It didn't take long for Gale to arrive at the Everdeen house. Unlike in the morning, he would let them off in the alleyway behind their home. Katniss and Prim exited the car. They waved as he drove off and then Katniss let them into the fence that led to their backyard.

When they got to the back porch, Katniss found that the backdoor was locked. Their parents must've gone out. She pulled out her key and let them into the house. They began their homework and it wasn't long before their parents entered through the same door that Katniss and Prim had entered in earlier.

Upon entering, they did not say why they were out and the girls didn't pry. It really didn't matter to them if their parents were there or not when they got home from school. In fact, many days, they were both working and would not return home for a few hours later.

That night, dinner was quiet. Katniss could tell that something was up because it was never this quiet at dinner. She didn't have to wait long for the news, though. Her parents seemed eager to share.

"For vacation this summer," their father began, "we've booked a 5-day cruise to Bermuda."

The news was barely out before Prim squealed, "Really! Yay! Thank you! Thank you!"

Katniss gave a soft smile. It always was like Prim to get over-excited like this.

"That will be at the end of July. We figured that would give us enough time to prepare since it's only mid-April right now." He pulled out the magazine that a travel agent must've given to it. "You two can look at this after dinner. It gives details about the layout of the ship and some things you can expect when onboard."

"Can I look at it first, please, Katniss? I really wanna see it!"

Katniss nodded in agreement. This trip had been her little sister's idea anyway.

"Just some things that we wanted to pass along," their mother picked up the discussion next. "There is one night, usually the second night, that is a formal dinner. That means you have to look really, really nice…Katniss."

Grimacing, Katniss knew why her mother had singled her out. She was very tomboy-ish, taking after her father and influenced by Gale.

"Yeah, yeah…I get it," she mumbled.

"Now, we have to board by 1PM on that Saturday. It easily takes an hour to drive to the harbor and that's not even counting traffic and anything else that may come up along the way. We've decided to book a hotel for one night near the harbor…and near the stadiums, Katniss."

Perking up, Katniss's mindset changed immediately. "The baseball stadium? Let's go see a live game." She had never been to one and watching it TV was definitely not the way to experience games all the time. There was nothing like seeing a live game…or so she had been told by Gale. He'd been to a couple games.

"We'll think about it," her father continued, "It depends on several factors. Anyway, our hotel has a shuttle to the stadiums and to the dock, as well. We are planning to utilize that shuttle. As for other details, I'll let you two look at the book first and then we'll answer questions…if we can."

After dinner, Prim grabbed the book and ran to the living room. When Katniss found her later, the youngest Everdeen was still flipping back and forth through its pages.

"This looks so cool. I can't wait. I wish it could be July now!"

With a laugh, Katniss told her, "You have to be patient. July will get here when it gets here."

"Here, Katniss! Take a look at the book. Then you can be excited too." Prim turned around and passed the book up to her older sister who had taken a seat on the couch.

Katniss looked through the book, flipping through details about the ship, its rooms, its various deck levels, and restaurants. As she was reading, one thing caught her attention and she asked her dad about it as he entered the room.

"Wait, you have to pay to use cell phones and the internet?"

"Yeah, sorry that I didn't tell you about that, Katniss, but that was something that we learned today. Also, you would be charged roaming charges if you make calls or text on Bermuda too. Hate to break it to you, but Gale won't exist to you for those five days…unless you want to pay and no boy is worth that kinda money. Sorry, honey."

Katniss passed the book back to Prim and that was when the nervousness set in. None of them had ever been on a ship before, but Katniss was sure that if any of them were to get seasick it would be her. She tended to have that kind of luck. Not only that, but how could she survive five days without talking to Gale? He was her only friend. _**I can see it already. This is going to be the worst vacation ever.**_

* * *

**Well, there we have it. The first chapter. A very expository-style chapter. There was a lot of groundwork that needed to be laid for the story. It should start picking up soon. I did warn about long chapters, right?**

**I was very much like Katniss about my cruise. Nervous and not thrilled about not being able to talk to one of my good friends for five days. However, that's where the similarities this chapter end. I even based the schools off of ones that I did not go to but am familiar with. **

**Oh, I've already started work on the soundtrack for this fanfic. There is a good arrangement and I'm excited to introduce them within the story at their times. **

**This whole story has been planned out, so suggestions are not necessary. I hope that everyone enjoyed the first chapter and the second chapter should be out soon.**

**Posted: July 19, 2012**


	2. Arrival

**So…I'm glad that everyone liked the first chapter…which was just groundwork. It should start to pick up now, hopefully. I don't have much to say here, I guess. More explanations will follow after the chapter, but for now, I present, the next chapter.**

**Almost forgot, I've changed the first chapter…but all I did was add song lyrics. Consider them the "opening theme". Movies have them and I feel that a hypothetical "songtrack" really adds to the story. There will be an "ending theme" too later…much later.**

**P.S. Thanks all for over 100 hits just on the first chapter. That's amazing. At the time I post this, the hit total is equal to that of my other Hunger Games fanfic "Yours To Hold" which has 110 hits and two chapters. I'm so glad that everyone is enjoying this and, as a token of my gratitude, I really will begin the chapter now.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Arrival

The Everdeen family began the drive southward around lunchtime. Along the way, they grabbed a quick lunch at a fast food restaurant. It did not take long to make it to the port city; the family had been there several times before for day trips. However, there was a short instance where the old van decided to stall out on the highway. Luckily, Mr. Everdeen expertly pulled it to the side of the road, threw on the four-way flashers, and got out to inspect the engine. As it turned out, the car had just overheated from the excessive record-breaking heat of the day.

Mr. Everdeen pulled the van into the hotel parking lot just before check-in time. As soon as he'd turned off the van, the whole family jumped out to enter the hotel lobby. No one wanted to stay in the car, especially since, after the close call, they had to travel the rest of the way without air conditioning.

The cool of the hotel's air conditioner was a welcoming relief to everyone as they stepped up to the desk to check-in. Katniss found herself easily bored by the process. Hotel check-in processes were always so long and complicated. To pass the time, she found herself listening to the end of the song playing softly on the radio.

_How do I live without you__  
__I want to know__  
__How do I breathe without you__  
__If you ever go__  
__How do I ever, ever survive__  
__How do I__  
__How do I__  
__Oh, how do I live_

_how do I live without you__  
__how do I live without you baby__  
__how do I live..._

Katniss was very familiar with the song; it was one of her mother's favorites. Most times, she enjoyed soft music like this, but, today, the song only made her thing of one thing…Gale. The song spoke volumes about how she felt about her imminent lack of communication with her only friend.

Luckily, she did not have to think long about Gale because her father had obtained the room keys and began to lead them to the elevator. The family always liked to find the room before starting to bring their luggage to it. It was taunting to do it that way because everyone just wanted to relax once they found the room and stepped inside, but, at least this way they would have a less likely chance of getting lost while carrying (or rolling, in some cases) heavy bags. As it turned out, it was a good thing that they went room searching first because their room ended up being hidden in the depths of the hotel. This made Katniss so glad that they only had to deal with the hotel for one night because she would surely get lost if she would've had to spend multiple days and nights here.

Once they had finally found the room, they went back outside to grab their bags from the van. As quickly as they could, they grabbed their bags and returned to the hotel. After the bags had been loaded into the hotel room, the family decided to relax for a short amount of time and plan out what to do for that night. Everyone knew that Katniss wanted to go to the baseball game and, because they knew that she had not been as thrilled as everyone else for the vacation, they decided to go to the game. Mr. Everdeen called down to the front desk to find out the shuttle schedule and reserved the family spots on the shuttle that was to arrive in about fifteen minutes. Ten minutes later found the family sitting in the hotel lobby to wait for the shuttle.

The shuttle arrived right on time and they boarded. From the hotel, you could see the city's professional football stadium. Katniss could not wait to see the stadiums up close. What a feeling it must be to finally see the places that, up until that point, she had only seen on the family's average-sized older model television!

It was a quick drive to the local convention center where the shuttle drop-off and pick-up site was located. The hotel really was "adjacent to the stadiums" as they advertised. From the convention center, it was only a short walk to the baseball park. Every Friday night at the park was student discount night, which was yet another reason why they had chosen to go to the game. Mr. Everdeen collected Katniss's and Primrose's school ID cards to present them to the vendor and left to grab tickets for that night's game.

The family had no trouble getting seats for that night's game; it was far from a sell-out. Once they had gotten their tickets, they found a map of the stadium seating nearby and picked out their seats. They were going to view the game from the second deck along the third base line. This seating was not too bad…considering how cheap the seats were.

They had a little less than a couple hours to wait until the gates would open so they decided to find some dinner. Now, that was the one bad thing about this city that they had come to figure out. There were not many restaurants within the tourist district and the ones that were there were either way too expensive or the wait would be way too long.

Even though it was now well after mid-day and the sun had dipped much lower, the heat still radiated from the streets and sidewalks. Katniss snuck a glance at her younger sister as the family walked further from the stadium. The youngest Everdeen was naturally pale and, with her fair complexion, the heat and the sun did not bode well. Protective of her sister, Katniss hoped the family would find a place to eat soon, but she was fully prepared to give her sister a "piggyback" ride should she start to sway from heat exhaustion.

Finally, several blocks from the stadium, the family found a Subway. They did not even stop to question if they should keep looking. The shop was small and they had been there before. Luckily it was not as crowded this time. Last time they had been there, it had been Otakon weekend and the small shop had been overpacked with cosplaying anime fanatics.

Because it was so hot, the family each ordered small sandwiches and drinks with a bag of chips for a side. No one wanted to eat because it was so hot, but they all did since they knew that the food at the stadium would be overpriced.

Once they were all finished eating, they made the trek back to the stadium. It had cooled down a little more, but it was still much hotter than usual. Inside the stadium, they easily found their seats and looked out at the nearby factory that stood just outside the walls of the stadium. Katniss could not believe that she was actually in a baseball stadium. It was like a dream come true. The vacation could end right now and Katniss would be just fine with that. The only downside was the neither team was her favorite one. Guess she'd just have to root for another team…just this once.

It was truly amazing how similar Katniss was to her father. Not only did they look alike (as opposed to Prim, who had gotten all her looks from the girls' mother), but they also shared an intense love for sports and competitions. Many summer nights, they would watch the televised baseball games. It was just the bond they shared.

They had arrived early enough to watch the pre-game batting practice. It was an interesting experience and Katniss found it amusing that a group of people crowded in the outfield seats in the hopes of snatching a hit ball.

The main screen displayed some temperatures and it was then that everyone there learned that the on-field temperature was well over 100 degrees. Katniss no longer felt bad about having to ride in a van without air conditioning for a half hour. She was grateful that it had not gotten that hot in the van and that it was only for a short amount of time. Those players were on that field in full uniform for the duration of the game…although, they received good money for their choice, but that was beside the point.

Because of the heat, the stadium personnel was giving spectators free cups of ice and the Everdeen family chose to take advantage of that offer. After receiving their cup of ice, Katniss walked around the outer deck and found a spot to take a look at the nearby football stadium. She loved seeing stadiums. By far, her favorite memory was when the family had taken a roadtrip and the highway had taken them right by her team's ballpark. She had looked downward and to the right of the van and into the park. There was no way she would ever forget that.

Satisfied with seeing the football stadium, Katniss rejoined her family in the seating area. To pass the time, Katniss sent Gale a text. She had not texted him since they had arrived at the hotel and she felt bad. This was her last day to talk with him for several days.

The scoreboard which listed the current happenings of the other professional baseball games was located exactly across the yard from where the Everdeens were sitting. It was in plain sight for Katniss. However, knowing that Gale would be turning in to watch her favorite team's game on TV, she asked him to keep her posted on what was going on.

Even after the game started, Katniss continued to text Gale. She was paying attention to the game, though, but she didn't want to stop talking with Gale because time was running out and she wanted to talk with him for as long and as often as she could.

Unfortunately for Katniss, her parents noticed that she was more focused on her phone than on the wonderful game being played right in front of her.

"Katniss, you wanted to see this game, but you seem to be more focused on texting. Why don't you watch the game for a bit?" her mother suggested, gently, but Katniss knew that was her way of saying "Put the phone away and watch the game."

Obliging, Katniss slipped her phone back into her pocket. Focusing on the game, she saw that the away team had loaded the bases. The player at bat swung her bat, connecting it with the ball and sending it flying easily into the outfield seats where many spectators had caught balls during batting practice. A grand slam.

"See what happens when I watch the game?" Katniss told her mother in reply. "The other team gets a grand slam."

As it turned out, that grand slam didn't even matter. The away team easily won the game. It was kinda sad, but Katniss was not disappointed. She was never actually rooting for either team, but she had wanted the home team to win. Luckily, her favorite team back home won. That was good enough for her.

Slowly, the stadium emptied out and the family made their way back to the convention center to find their shuttle. It took almost forty minutes before a shuttle was able to accommodate the whole family. Having nothing else to do that night, they went back to the hotel and prepared for bed. Tomorrow would be an early morning so they did not waste much time before getting to bed.

Katniss continued her text messaging conversation with Gale. She did not want to end it because she did not know if he would even be awake the next day before she had to "pack and stow" her cell phone. Mrs. Everdeen flipped out the hotel room lights as everyone settled down to sleep. Katniss never even noticed the room grow dark; she was too engrossed in her conversation with Gale. It was only when her mother told her, "Katniss, phone away. Now" that she obliged and placed the phone on the nightstand, but not before telling Gale what time she would have to turn off her phone the next day. Hopefully, he will wake up early to text her.

Sleep did not come easily for Katniss that night. She tossed and turned, but her mind was hours ahead. It always seemed that no matter how much the hotel beds tried to imitate comfort, Katniss would always have trouble falling asleep in them. There was nothing like sleeping in your own bed. Finally, Katniss drifted to sleep, but her dreams were plagued by Gale. In all of them, he was torn from her and she had no chance to change the outcome. Would she be able to live five days without Gale?

* * *

**There it is. Chapter 2. Time for my notes. Let me see what I can say about this.**

**Most of this chapter was based on my trip…even the breaking down of the van and the heat of the day. The grand slam really did happen too. The Subway scene and walking to Subway is all true. I did not alter that. Actually, everything about that game that I portrayed in here was true. I did, however, forget how long we waited for the return shuttle, but forty minutes sounds about right. **

**I did text through the game, but I watched too. My parents never told me to put my phone away. I just felt that was necessary. **

**Next chapter, we set sail…and a new character will make an appearance. Stay tuned and the next chapter will be up before you know it.**

**P.S. I'm pretty sure that, a year ago, I was on my own cruise. I forgot the exact dates, but it was at the end of July. Just a piece of fun trivia. **

**Posted: July 21, 2012**


	3. Boarding:Day 1

**I feel like the story was losing momentum and I apologize. There was a lot of groundwork and I had to split it into two chapters. If you're still reading this, the story action will pick up now. I promise. **

**Oh, and if you're so inclined, read the A/N's at the end of chapters. I always put information about what this part of the cruise each chapter was based off in them. **

**Anyway, I have re-visualized the cruise ship and everything looks to be in accordance, so we'll set sail this chapter. This will also probably be the longest chapter thus far. I'm saying that now before I even type the first word. EDIT/SIDENOTE: This IS the longest chapter and is well over 5,000 words so if you don't like long chapters, I apologize.**

**Not only that, but, as I mentioned last time, a new character emerges, so get pumped! As always, please enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Boarding (Day 1)

The Everdeen family was up by 10AM the next morning. Because they had only spent one night in the hotel, there was not much to gather in preparation for check-out and, ultimately, the cruise. However, following check-in, they had to wait for the shuttle that would transport them and their luggage to the dock. Many cruise-goers had also chosen to stay at the same hotel and the lobby was full as they all waited for shuttles to the dock.

A shuttle that could accommodate the Everdeens arrived about an hour and a half later. The driver helped the families load their luggage into the back of the shuttle and, once everyone was situated, drove off for the port. Even though rush hour (on this wonderful Saturday morning) was long over, there was still a backlog of traffic on the major highway. The one advantage of being stuck in the traffic jam was that everyone on the shuttle was able to see the waiting cruise ship. Katniss glanced over at Prim and saw that her younger sister could barely contain her excitement. This brought a smile to Katniss's face as she returned to texting Gale.

Arriving at the port, the shuttle driver parked right by the building where everyone was to check-in prior to boarding. Before entering, the shuttle driver unloaded everyone's luggage and showed them where the shuttle would pick them up when they returned from their trip.

There was a long line for check-in inside the building. Luckily they had gotten there early. They had to be boarded on the ship in less than an hour and a half, but it looked like that would not be an issue and that was all thanks to arriving early. Throughout the whole wait, Katniss kept up with her conversation with Gale; she was not ready to lose contact with her only friend.

After check-in, the family moved to yet another room. As they waited in the line to present their boarding passes to a staff member, photographers took pictures of all those who would soon be boarding the ship. The Everdeens agreed to getting a family portrait and they arranged themselves in front of the backdrop. Katniss faked a small smile and the photographer snapped the pictures.

Moving on, they followed the line. The end was in sight. Out of the corner of her eye, Katniss could see Prim practically jumping up and down with excitement. _**At least someone's happy**_. Katniss pulled out her cell phone and texted faster. Her time to text was quickly coming to an end and she was sad that she would soon have to say goodbye to Gale.

The line moved quickly and, before they knew it, Katniss's family was presenting their boarding passes to the staff member in charge. In exchange for their passes, each member received a boarding ID card. Again, they had their pictures taken, but, this time, it was individual and for the purpose of being put on the cards. Katniss really hated pictures. When each of the family members had received their identification cards, they were directed to move outside through the doors and to board the ship.

While walking up the raised rampway that would take them to the entrance to the ship, Katniss, praying that time would slow down considerably, continued to text Gale. Prim, on the other hand, analyzed her identification card. "Hey, my card has a hole punched into it. Katniss, does yours have a hole in it too?"

Katniss looked at her card and saw that there was a hole punched into hers as well. "Yeah…must be the way they tell if we're 21 or not," she replied, knowing that there would be alcoholic beverages aboard.

"Katniss, Prim, you can turn your cell phones off now. We don't want to mistakenly catch the signal from onboard the ship," Mr. Everdeen told them.

Eagerly, Prim pulled out her phone and switched it off. Before switching off her phone too, Katniss sent one last text to Gale to say that she had to go and that she'd be back soon. Upon entering the ship, the first thing everyone noticed with gold. The areas surrounding the entrance were full of gold trim and everything was so shiny.

This open atrium area was so elegant and Prim couldn't hide her excitement. "Wow! Look how pretty it is!" As it turned out, the guest rooms were not yet ready, so the family found some chairs in the area and took a seat. Katniss felt so bored without the use of her phone and she found herself staring out the round windows. Down on the dock, so far below the ship, grounds-crews worked on loading all of the guest luggage into the ship while others ran around doing tasks that Katniss could only guess. It was a long way to look down and Katniss silently thanked God that she was not afraid of heights. Further out, Katniss watched the traffic creep along on the highway that they had just recently been on while onboard the shuttle.

Mr. Everdeen returned to where the others sat. Katniss had not noticed her father leave, but she wasn't exactly being observant to her surroundings within the ship right now. In his hands, Mr. Everdeen had the "Cruise Compass" for the day which gave them insight about the first day aboard the ship. "So, the ship is scheduled to set sail around 4, so we've got a couple hours of downtime to wait while everyone boards. However, at 3:45, there's a mandatory meeting at our muster stations to know what to do in case of emergency. Our station is number 4 because it's based on what floor our stateroom is located on." That being said, he took a seat with the rest of the family.

Katniss was not used to dealing with boredom. Usually, she always had something to do…even if that something was a simple as texting Gale. Pulling out her iPod, Katniss placed her earbuds into her ears and switched on the device. Without looking at what song was displayed, Katniss hit the play button and the soft sounds of Michael Bolton played into her ears.

_When love puts you through the fire__  
__When love puts you through the test__  
__Nothing cures a broken heart__  
__Like time, love and tenderness__  
__When you think your world is over__  
__Baby, just remember this__  
__Nothing heals a broken heart__  
__Like time, love and tenderness__  
__Time, love and tenderness_

It was a love song, one with which Katniss was very familiar. It was a nice song, but today all could she think of as the song played was Gale. No, she wasn't in love with him, but he was her best…and only…friend and she felt heartbroken without him. Maybe this wasn't the best song to listen to…at least not right now. Gladly, she turned the iPod back on and switched to the next song.

_When you feel all alone__  
__And a loyal friend is hard to find__  
__You're caught in a one way street__  
__With the monsters in your head__  
__When hopes and dreams are far away and__  
__You feel like you can't face the day  
__Let me be the one you call__  
__If you jump i'll break your fall__  
__Lift you up and fly away with you into the night  
__  
__If you need to fall apart__  
__I can mend a broken heart__  
__If you need to crash then crash and burn__  
__You're not alone_

The words of Savage Garden flowed through Katniss's mind. This song was an older one, but she loved the band…usually. However, today, it just made her heart break more. Where were all the happier songs? Flipping back a few windows, Katniss saw that she had last been listening to a playlist of sad music. Why had she even created that? She no longer knew and it didn't really matter. Realizing that she no longer wanted to listen to her iPod, she switched it off, took the earbuds from her ears and wound them around the case before sticking it back into her pocket.

"Can we go exploring? I really wanna see the rest of the ship!" Prim spoke up. For once, Katniss couldn't agree more with her little sister. If nothing else, at least that would give them something to do until the mandatory meeting in a couple hours.

"Sounds like a great idea. Although, they probably won't let us near the staterooms, so we'll just go explore the areas in the back of the ship…and the outer decks too," Mr. Everdeen replied.

First, on their mini and self-guided tour of the ship, they found the restaurant where they would eat their dinners every night. Outside the restaurant was posted the daily menu which they stopped to look at. They all analyzed it, determining their appetizer, main dish, and dessert for the night. From there, they returned to the atrium where they entered one of the two glass elevators to head upwards.

Exiting at deck 9, they found the outdoor pool. First, they had to exit the air-conditioned interior through a sliding glass door. The pool deck was, by far, the most relaxing of all the decks. Not only was there the small outer pool and several surrounding hot tubs, but the deck was also loaded with plenty of deck chairs. If there was any deck that reminded those aboard that they were on vacation, it was this one. Also, on this deck, they found The Windjammer Marketplace at the very front of the ship. From what they had heard, this would be the best place to grab breakfast in the mornings.

After exploring that deck, they returned to the glass elevators and rode them to the very top deck. There was only one thing on this deck and the glass elevators were the only ones that traveled up to it. This deck consisted entirely of the beautiful Viking Crown Lounge.

Finishing their self-guided mini-tour, they returned to the glass elevator and went back down to the atrium, which they had learned was called "The Centrum". The tour had proven helpful as they now better knew where some of the many features on the ship were located .

About an hour and a half later, they joined the other passengers on the outer deck of deck 5 for the mandatory meeting. Easily, they found muster station 4 and crowded in with the rest of those who would be staying in staterooms on deck 4. The meeting was quick, no longer than 10-15 minutes and the assigned staff members gave them instructions that the passengers would probably forget if an emergency actually did occur.

Once the meeting was over, the Everdeens, along with most of the other passengers, remained on deck 5 to watch the ship pull out of the dock and begin its voyage to Bermuda. Even though Katniss still was not entirely thrilled to be there, she couldn't deny how cool it was to see the ship pull away from the dock and out into the open waters of the bay. The coastline appeared smaller and smaller as the ship sailed closer to its destination. There was no going back now and soon, there would be no surrounding land. How weird would that be? To be surrounded by nothing but water?

As the ship picked up speed, Katniss began to feel the swaying of the floors as the ship cut through the waves of the bay. The swaying wasn't too strong yet, but they had not yet reached the ocean either. Once the ship had put a fair amount of distance between the dock and the destination, the Everdeens decided to head back to deck 4 and check out their staterooms. Katniss would share a room with her little sister and their parents would share another one a few rooms down from where their children were staying.

To get to their staterooms, they had to pass through The Centrum again. At one of end of The Centrum, opposite from to the entrance to the restaurant were two doors, leading to the hallways where the staterooms were located. Along the way, they briefly got lost, but, even with that minor setback, it wasn't hard to find their staterooms.

Unfortunately, their staterooms were on the inner part of the deck, so they did not get any view of the ocean. Katniss opened the door with her ship ID card, similar to the way that she would insert a hotel key card into the door to unlock it. The first thing Katniss noticed once the door to the stateroom that she would share with her sister swung open was how constricted the room felt. She was not used to having no windows to look out of. Even her bedroom at home had that one window that overlooked the street in front of the house. Katniss's and Prim's stateroom had two separate beds with a nightstand separating them. Entering the room, Katniss chose the bed on the left side and placed her stuff on it.

Before heading to the other stateroom, Mr. Everdeen had told Katniss and Prim that he planned to go up to the pool deck in about ten or fifteen minutes and he invited them to join. Having nothing better to do, she decided to go up to take up her father's offer. Katniss let Prim use the restroom first to change into her swimsuit while she organized her stuff, setting her useless cell phone on the nearby nightstand. As Prim changed, Katniss looked at the ship's Course Compass handout for day 1. Nothing on it held much interest to her, but it gave her something to do. When Prim was finished with the bathroom, Katniss went in next to change into her new swimsuit. Her parents had made her get a new one just for the trip. Not that she minded much. She had needed a new swimsuit.

Ready to go, they met up with their parents at their stateroom down the hall. On the way out, the stateroom caretaker passed by, introducing himself to the family. He was cute, Katniss observed, but he wasn't Gale. No one could ever take the place of Gale. Nearby to the staterooms were the elevators.

The elevators were not the fastest that Katniss had ever ridden in, but they weren't the slowest either. Arriving at deck 9, the woman on the elevator recording announced "Pool Deck" as the doors opened. Since the ship had pulled out from the dock, it had gotten sunnier and more passengers had ventured up to the pool deck to begin their days of relaxation.

Passing by the pool, the family went to the left side of the deck and found four deck chairs, all next to each other, that faced out to the waters around them. They stayed there until the Francis Scott Key bridge began to come into view. Then they rose to walk the short distance to the edge of the deck. According to what the captain had said as they were leaving the dock, they would pass under this bridge about a half hour into the trip and they would also pass under one more bridge later on in the night around nine or ten. It was a sight to see as the tall ship passed under the bridge with just enough clearance.

Once the bridge was behind them, the Everdeens returned to their chairs to just relax as the bay breeze flowed across the sunny deck. Katniss switched on her iPod again and let its music flow freely into her thoughts. Before she even knew it, she had drifted off, lured to sleep by the music and the calming atmosphere.

Waking up, she felt like she was on the beach…but she was moving. When she opened her eyes, she remembered that she was on the cruise ship. How had she even forgotten? Looking around, she saw that her family had moved and she found that they had gone to the pool. Katniss decided to join them. Shutting off her iPod and removing the earbuds, she went to go take off her upper layer of clothing and set them on the deck chair where the rest of the family had deposited theirs. Then, she went to the pool and joined her family.

"Finally wake up?" Prim teased her.

"I guess so or I wouldn't be here, now would I?" Katniss teased her little sister back.

The pool water felt nice, but Katniss was immediately turned off by the number of younger kids there. She was never one who liked a lot of splashing and yelling. "I think I'm going to go to that adult only indoor pool," she finally told her family, completely fed up with the atmosphere around the outdoor pool. Her parents nodded in reply and Katniss climbed out of the pool.

On the way inside, she grabbed a towel from the vendor and wrapped it over her shoulders, closing it as much as possible over the front of her swimsuit. Once she had passed through the sliding glass door, Katniss was immediately hit by the air-conditioning of the ship's interior. Involuntarily, she shivered. Was this even a good idea?

The solarium, which featured the indoor pool and another several hot tubs, was a lot quieter and calmer than its outdoor companion. Even though she was not yet eighteen and would not be for two more years, Katniss looked older and mature for her age and those in the solarium did not question her presence. Tossing her towel onto one of the seats, she quietly and gently entered the pool.

Greeted by warm water, Katniss sunk deeper, letting the water relax her. She felt satisfied until she fully submerged herself and learned that the pool water was filled with a concentration of salt. Katniss didn't mind salt water…in the ocean, but it had no place in a pool. Exiting, she grabbed her towel and went back to the outdoor pool.

"Back already?" her mother asked her when she saw that her eldest daughter had returned.

"Yeah…I didn't like the salt water in that pool. Think I'll sit here and watch now. I don't really feel like swimming anymore today."

"We might want to think about heading back to the staterooms anyway. We need to change before dinner," Mr. Everdeen said and the others all agreed.

Tonight's dinner attire was casual, so, when they got back to the stateroom, Katniss quickly changed into what she had been wearing earlier while Prim again used the bathroom as a changing station. When they were done, they again met up with their parents and they headed to the restaurant.

The Everdeens' reserved table was on the same floor as their stateroom so all they had to do was walk across The Centrum. They made sure to arrive early to the restaurant and it was a good thing that they did because the waiting line was already long. The restaurant doors were still closed, but that was okay because it gave them time to think and take in their surroundings.

Once the restaurant doors opened, the hosts showed all of the guests to their reserved tables. Katniss was pleased to learn that the service of the restaurant boasted excellence. The waiters for their table were so dependable and easygoing, providing a relaxed and enjoyable dinner experience. Hopefully all nights would be this good. Not only that, but the cooks were fantastic. Dinner was cooked to perfection and Katniss was thrilled to have a meal that she would definitely never get back home.

After dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen told their daughters that they were going to head up to the Viking Crown Lounge to try the drink of the day. Once they were gone, it was just Katniss and Prim on their own. Together, the sisters explored some areas, taking in how different they were at night. There was only so much exploring to be done, though, and, eventually, the sisters grew bored. Prim suggested that they go check out the Viking Crown Lounge and Katniss reluctantly agreed.

At the entrance to the Viking Crown Lounge, the host asked to see their ID cards even though Katniss knew he could easily tell that neither of them was old enough to be there. However, he did let them enter…but not before he gave them each a wristband and warned them that there would be "absolutely no alcohol" for them.

Inside, music blared. At first Katniss could not make out any words, but soon her ears adjusted and she recognized a song from her childhood.

_I'm comin' up so you better get this party started__  
__I'm comin' up so you better get this party started_

_Get this party started on a Saturday night__  
__Everybody's waitin for me to arrive__  
__Sendin' out the message to all of my friends_

After that, she stopped listening. The song had never been one of her favorites. Glancing around, Katniss noticed that, even though they couldn't drink, there was still plenty to be done within the Viking Crown. On the other side of the lounge, stood a DJ booth and a dancefloor which was jam-packed with adults and teenagers alike. Dancing wasn't really her thing either and Katniss knew this would not be a place where she would spend a great deal of time.

While she was taking in her surroundings, Prim had found another girl who looked to be about her age and Katniss could see that she was going to spend some time getting to know the other girl. Gladly, the older Everdeen took this as her opportunity to leave the nightclub. It was only after leaving the nightclub, though, that she fully realized how alone she felt. Bored, she took the first available glass elevator and returned to the pool deck. Knowing that the Windjammer Marketplace offered a late night buffet, she decided that checking that out was better than doing nothing. As she approached the marketplace area, an old song played softly on the radio overhead and Katniss almost laughed out loud when she recognized the words.

_I'll be the one (I'll be the one)_  
_Who will make all your sorrows undone_  
_I'll be the light (I'll be the light)_  
_When you feel like there's nowhere to run_  
_I'll be the one..._

_To hold you and make sure that you'll be alright_  
_'Cause my fear is gone_  
_And I want to take you from darkness to light_

_There you were, wild and free_  
_Reachin' out like you needed me_  
_A helping hand to make it right_  
_I am holding you all through the night_

_I'll be the one (I'll be the one)_  
_Who will make all your sorrows undone_  
_I'll be the light (I'll be the light)_  
_When you feel like there's nowhere to run_  
_I'll be the one..._

Pushing the song from her mind (but subconsciously knowing that it was still playing), Katniss's attention shifted to a model of a sister ship to the one she was on. Food was forgotten as she looked over all the intricate little details on the model. She couldn't pull her eyes from it.

"It's pretty cool, isn't it?"

Katniss jumped slightly as a voice addressed her. She turned sharply to come face-to-face with a blue-eyed blond boy. "Y-Yes, it is," she replied, stammering slightly. Why was she stuttering? Katniss Everdeen never stuttered.

"Oh, I didn't introduce myself. How rude of me. I'm Peeta Mellark," he continued with a smile.

"Pleasure. Katniss Everdeen," she told him in reply.

Katniss had not intended to get to know anyone on this trip. She just wanted to get it over with and return home to Gale. However, something about this Peeta made her curious to get to know him better.

"Nice to meet you, Katniss. Hey, you look kinda lonely. Wanna hang out for a while?"

Every ounce of her judgment told her to decline and go back to her stateroom. Thoughts of Gale played softly through her head. However, she did not truly want to go back to the stateroom, so she agreed and another smile lit up Peeta's face.

"Oh, have you been up to the Viking Crown Lounge yet?" he asked her, trying to decide what they should do for their time together.

Holding up her wrist to show him the glow-in-the-dark wristband, she replied, "Yeah, I was there with my sister. I don't really like it and I'm not interested in returning there tonight."

"Fair enough," he told her, taking her thoughts into consideration. "Any objections to just hanging out on the pool deck, then?"

With a small smile, Katniss replied, "None at all."

Sitting in a couple deck chairs facing the nearly empty pool, the two got to know each other. It was in that time that Katniss learned that he lived in a suburb within the state of New York. She told him that he was surprised because he didn't have an accent and he told her the same thing when she revealed that she lived in Pennsylvania. He also told her that his family, which consisted of his parents, him, and two older brothers, were staying in two oceanview staterooms on deck 7. In return, Katniss told him that her and her family were staying on deck 4. Quickly, she had found that, despite not wanting to get to know anyone on the ship, Katniss greatly enjoyed Peeta's company.

An hour and a half passed by quickly and Katniss never even took notice. Time could've stopped and she would've been none the wiser. After having conversing for that whole time, Peeta stood up suddenly. Katniss threw him a confused look. Was he leaving now? As it turned out, he wasn't.

"I'm gonna take a quick swim. That's one of the reasons why I came up here, actually."

Katniss looked down and saw his swim trunks. How had she not noticed those earlier?

Removing his shirt, Peeta did a quick cannonball into the pool, resurfacing after a brief moment. Katniss could see him immediately relax, thanks to the calm warm water. She cautiously moved to sit on the edge of the pool. Taking off her sandals, she dipped her feet into the water and allowed it to relax her muscles as well. What a peaceful night it was. Closing her eyes, she enjoyed the breeze that tossed through her braided hair.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw that Peeta had disappeared. "Peeta?" she whispered, wondering where he had gone off to. Before she could grasp the situation, Peeta, from underwater, had grabbed her ankles and warm pool water rushed up to meet her. She had not even had time to gasp a breath and some of the water entered her lungs. Resurfacing, she coughed slightly, still not believing what had just happened.

Nearby, Peeta was laughing so hard, pleased that he had managed to catch her off-guard. This brought a scowl to her face. Splashing pool water into his face, she scolded him. "That was completely unfair…and now my clothes are all soaked. What do you have to say for yourself, Mellark?"

Laughing still, Peeta shook the splashed water out of his face, his wet blond hair sticking to his forehead. "You…should have seen…your face. Priceless!"

Katniss knew that she should be more upset with this boy, but there was something about his smile that was contagious and she found herself smiling too. "Well…I guess it was kinda funny. I guess I just didn't think you were the type to do something like that," she told him with a small laugh to show that she was no longer upset.

"You don't know me too well, then. Of course, you shouldn't. You've known me for what…two hours?"

Figuring that she needed some time for her clothes to dry, Katniss climbed out of the pool and retreated back to the deck chairs where the two had been prior to entering the pool. Peeta, apparently done swimming too, followed her to the chairs. On the way back, he grabbed two towels and tossed one to Katniss as he approached the chairs. In the time it had taken for him to get the towels, she had removed her hair from its braid because she definitely did not want it to dry that way, especially with the added chlorine.

"It's getting late. I should probably get back to my stateroom. My sister will be wondering where I am…and she's definitely going to wonder why my clothes are all wet."

"Yeah, I should be getting back to mine too. Would you like me to walk you back to yours?"

"Nah. I'll be fine. It would be out of the way for you anyway."

Peeta nodded in acknowledgement. "Fair enough. See ya around then?" he finished, questioning rather than stating.

"Sure. Have a great night." That being said, they parted with him exiting the elevator two floors down. As she headed back to her stateroom, Katniss couldn't stop the smile from appearing on her face. Prim was going to think she had gone crazy, but there was nothing she could do. Peeta had really made her night enjoyable…even with that little trick he had played on her. Maybe this vacation wouldn't be as bad as she originally thought.

* * *

**Well, here's the longest chapter yet. Hope that the length didn't turn people off and if you're even reading this, props to you.**

**Time for notes…you know the drill. Let me see…well, most of this chapter (except the ending, of course) was based on true events. The shuttle, the waiting, the muster station meeting, even the scene on the pool deck with the bridge and nap. Dinner and the exploring was based on real events too, but me and my sister did not split up. However, for Katniss to be able to meet Peeta, that had to happen. **

**I think that's all the necessary notes for this chapter. If there's more, I'll put them in later. It's almost 4AM and I stayed up just to finish this. However, I've got links to pics if you're interested in visualizing the ship. Remember to remove spaces to view.**

** www. iglucruise enchantment-of-the-seas-images**

** www. beyondships ENOS-Profile. html**

** www. enchantmentoftheseas 2012/ enchantment-of-the-seas/**

**If you want more, you can always search "Enchantment of the Seas" in Google Images. There's some pretty nice pics on there.**

**Next chapter is the first full day at sea. You don't want to miss it. Trust me. Until next time…**

**Posted: July 25, 2012**

**Edited/Revised: July 25, 2012**


	4. At Sea:Day 2

**So…the story has started to pick up now that Peeta has arrived, huh? I don't have much to say this time, so I guess I'll throw out a suggestion instead. As I was coming up with the plan for this story, I developed a pretty good backstory for Peeta. Would anyone be interested in reading a version of this story as told by his POV? Sorta like how I've done with Katniss here in the third person except the other story would feature Peeta in the third person. Let me know your thoughts if you so choose.**

**Now that I've thrown that out there…it's time for day 2. A full day at sea in the Atlantic starts…now…**

* * *

Chapter 4: At Sea (Day 2)

The day started out at about the same time as the day prior. In Katniss's and Prim's staterooms, a ringing phone woke up the two girls. Because there was no window in the stateroom, it was pitch-dark, giving the impression that it was still early morning. Katniss, being closest to the phone, stumbled through the dark room and picked up the phone. "Hello…" she drawled out, sleep still lacing her voice.

"Good morning to you too, Katniss!" her father's voice was way too cheerful for this early in the morning.

"What time is it?" Katniss slurred slightly, wanting more than anything just to go back to sleep.

"It is ten and we are preparing to grab breakfast at the Windjammer. We would like to see you and Prim over here in about fifteen or twenty minutes, if possible."

Katniss, sighing, obliged. "Okay, we'll be there." She put the phone down and went over to the other bed to wake Prim. After getting Prim's sleepy "okay", Katniss switched on the light, temporarily blinding both of them.

Once they had both changed into comfortable clothing, Katniss and Prim met up with their parents and, together, they all proceeded upstairs to the Windjammer Marketplace. There, they found that it was set up in a buffet-style manner. Not one who normally ate much of a breakfast, Katniss grabbed a small plate and found the table where the family had chosen to sit.

Just like the Viking Crown Lounge, this part of the deck offered stunning views of the areas around them. The whole Windjammer dining area was surrounded by windows and there was water on all sides of them. It truly was a stunning sight.

Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen asked the girls if they had seen the bridge that they had passed under last night. Prim said that her and her new friend, Rue, whom she had met last night in the Viking Crown had seen it. They had also seen a brightly-lit Carnival Cruise Line ship that was heading back toward the port. As it turned out, Katniss had been the only one to not see any of those things, but that was probably because they had happened during her time with Peeta. Luckily, Prim did not tell their parents about Katniss returning back to the stateroom with soaking wet clothes. That would've taken some explaining that Katniss did not feel like doing at that moment.

After breakfast, the family went down to deck 7 where the ship's library was located. The library had a supply of daily Sudoku and each of the Everdeens picked up one to do in their down time just as they had done during their mini self-guided tour of the ship yesterday afternoon. While on deck 7, Katniss felt an urge to go searching for Peeta's stateroom, but decided that would probably be a bad idea. He probably wasn't even still there anyway. Why would he be when he could be up on the pool deck enjoying the beautiful day?

Mrs. Everdeen, at breakfast, had noticed in the daily course compass that the ship was offering a stress relief class that morning in about a half hour. She had suggested that Katniss check it out because Katniss was known to get easily stressed sometimes. Katniss did not really wanted to go, but her father offered to join her if she accepted, so she did.

The class was being offered in the Spotlight Lounge at the back of the ship on deck 6. Not surprisingly, many people also came to the lounge to attend the class. Katniss couldn't understand this, though. They were on vacation. Of course, just cause they were on vacation, didn't mean they didn't get overly stressed back home.

About an hour later, Katniss left feeling a lot calmer than when she had entered. She would seriously have to remember those techniques later. To continue with the relaxation mode, Katniss and her dad decided to head back up to the pool deck. Up on the deck, they grabbed two deck chairs under the shaded part of the pool deck. It was a beautiful day and the music from a tropical band helped even more to calm Katniss. After all that, her day should be entirely stress-free.

As Katniss lay there, listening to the band and watching little kids splash around in the pool, she heard some nearby kids talking about the Windjammer offering free soft-serve ice cream. Because it was a hot day, Katniss decided to take up the offer. Approaching the marketplace, she noticed that the kids had been right. There was indeed a soft-serve machine there…and it was free.

A rack of cones sat near to the machine, but Katniss didn't really like cones. Instead, she grabbed a nearby drinking glass and swirled some chocolate soft-serve into it.

"I've seen some pretty strange ways that people eat ice cream, but I think yours tops all of them, Katniss."

Katniss jumped slightly at his sudden appearance, but she turned to face him, smiling at the boy she had met last night. "Do you make it a habit of sneaking up on people, Mellark?"

"If by people, you mean yourself, Katniss, then, yeah, I do. So, why do you put your ice cream into a drinking cup instead of a cone?"

"I'm not really a fan of cones, to be honest. Had a bad experience with them when I was a kid."

Peeta nodded in understanding. "I get it. You're one of those people who accidentally dropped a cone on the ground when you were a kid and never exactly got over the experience."

"Something like that, but minus how vulnerable that explanation makes me sound. I'm tougher than that. Maybe someday you'll learn that," Katniss replied with a small smirk.

In return, Peeta smiled as he made to grab an ice cream cone. "Man, I could really use some ice cream right about now. It's easier than going back to the stateroom for a shower…at least for now. Of course, ice cream is only a temporary solution and I will get that shower later."

Until Peeta mentioned it, Katniss had not noticed that he looked overly sweaty. His face was drenched in sweat along with his T-Shirt. As Peeta swirled some vanilla ice cream into a cone, Katniss asked him, "Yeah, you do look all sweaty. Do you seriously sweat that much? It isn't even hot out yet."

With a smile, Peeta finished swirling his cone and backed away to let some other kids have a turn. "Nah, I don't sweat all that much. It's just that I recently finished a run upstairs on the running track."

Katniss understood now. That made more sense. Peeta did look to be in excellent shape, so it did not surprise her at all that he was a morning runner. What did surprise her was his choice of ice cream. "Vanilla? Isn't that a little plain?"

"I suppose it is," Peeta replied, unfazed by Katniss's question, "but I don't really like overly sweet foods. Working in your father's bakery tends to do that. Too many sweet foods…and I've gotten sick more times than I count from over-eating a lot of his baked treats when I was a kid."

The two stood near the Windjammer and indulged on their mid-afternoon treats. Further down on the deck, the tropical band had switched to play a more familiar song.

_Upside inside out__  
__She's livin la vida loca__  
__She'll push and pull you down__  
__She's livin la vida loca__  
__Her lips are devil red__  
__And her skins the color of mocha__  
__She will wear you out__  
__Livin la vida loca_

_Upside inside out__  
__She's livin la vida loca__  
__She'll push and pull you down__  
__Livin la vida loca__  
__Her lips are devil red__  
__And her skin's the color of mocha__  
__She will wear you out__  
__Livin la vida loca__  
__Livin la vida loca__  
__Livin la vida loca__  
__Livin la vida loca__  
_

Katniss couldn't believe they would sing a song like that on a family-friendly cruise ship, but at least it sounded tropical enough. Maybe those kids in the pool wouldn't even grasp the meaning of that song.

"Hey, wanna see something cool that I found yesterday?"

Peeta was attempting to jumpstart the conversation that had fallen silent between them. Katniss agreed and Peeta led the way towards to pool. Over on the right side of the pool deck, within the shaded area, he again found what he was looking for and pointed it out to Katniss. "Look down."

Doing as Peeta said, Katniss looked down and found a circular glass porthole in the floor. Through it, she could look all the way down and see the ocean cutting waves.

"That's neat," she told Peeta, glad that he had showed it to her. "Although, it makes me kinda dizzy."

"Yeah, that tends to happen if you look down through it for too long, but I wanted to point it out in case you wanted to come back and see it again sometime."

Peeta grabbed two deck chairs near to the glass porthole and the two teens sat down to finish their ice cream. The silence that had creeped into their conversations earlier had returned. Neither knew what to say and just continued to enjoy their free treats.

Finishing first, Peeta placed his hands behind his hand and closing his eyes, relaxing into the comfort of the chair. Katniss had been slowly eating her ice cream and it was now practically a chocolate milkshake. As she finished her own ice cream, she couldn't take her eyes away from Peeta. He looked so content. Briefly, Katniss wondered if she could ever feel that way without Gale's company.

"Katniss, you can stop staring at me anytime," Peeta spoke up without opening his eyes. The smirk on his face told Katniss that he wasn't ordering her to look away. Instead, he was merely teasing her.

"I'm not," Katniss answered back a little too quicker. She could tell that Peeta knew her response had been too defensive.

"Sure you aren't…" he continued to tease her. Opening his crystal blue eyes, he turned to face her. "Hey, I was wondering…there's a show tonight that I was planning to go see, but my family isn't interested in going. Would you want to go with me? You don't have to because…I mean…I know it's formal dinner tonight, so if you wanted to use that time to…get ready, I'd understand. It was just a thought."

Laughing at Peeta's slight nervousness, Katniss nodded in reply. "Sure. I wouldn't mind going. I dunno what my family is doing today anyway. They didn't tell me. My little sister will probably hang out with her new friend and my parents like to try those 'drinks of the day'. That kinda puts me on my own anyway."

Peeta smiled, glad that Katniss had accepted his offer. "Sounds great. In that case, I think I'll go back to my stateroom and take a shower. I don't think anyone would like it if I came to the show in these sweaty clothes. The theater is on deck 5, so…meet you by the elevators on deck 5 around…5:30?"

With a nod, Katniss affirmed Peeta's suggestion. "Sure. Sounds good." That being said, Peeta headed off toward the stairs to deck 7. Once Peeta had disappeared from her sight, Katniss rejoined her father at the deck chair she had abandoned earlier.

"Did you get your ice cream? It sure took you awhile. You get lost, Katniss?" her father teased.

_**Sheesh, if it's not Peeta teasing me, it's my dad… **_Katniss had no idea why the men in her life like to tease her so much_**. Heck, even Gale does it too. **_"I got my ice cream and I met up with a friend too. Also, I promised this friend that I'd go see a show with them later before dinner." She hoped that her father would not pick up on her use of the word "them" instead of "him" or "her", but, of course, she was not that lucky.

"'Them'?" her father questioned, easily noticing that she had not specified the gender of her new friend.

"Fine. Fine. Him," Katniss continued, forced to finally reveal Peeta's gender to her father. If she hadn't, he would've still found a way to pry it out of her.

"A boy, huh? Gale's gonna be a bit jealous, isn't he? I did already give you that important talk, right?"

Blushing slightly, Katniss answered, "It's not like that. Gale isn't my boyfriend and Peeta is just a friend. There's nothing like that between us. As for that other part…can you be any more embarrassing?"

Her father smirked and Katniss was reminded of Peeta. Was this a masculine trait? "If I wasn't embarrassing my daughters, then I wouldn't be doing my parental duties correctly."

Katniss sighed. "Ain't that the truth," she replied as she leaned back into her deck chair. There was still several hours of downtime until the time at which she had promised to meet back up with Peeta. She slipped her hands into her pockets and, in one of them, found the daily Sudoku. _**Perfect. I can work on that for a bit**_.

She had always found the Sudoku puzzles to be both easy enough to grasp her attention and challenging enough to keep her attention. This one was one of the easier puzzles and she finished it within an hour. Hoping that it would take longer to complete, she folded the paper back up and stuck it again in her shorts' pocket. In an effort to keep herself entertained, Katniss again turned her attention to the bandstand. The tropical band had gone to take a break so the music was coming from a pre-determined list that was on autoplay.

The current song was one that Katniss had only heard a few times in Gale's car on the way to school. It had just come out.

_I'm better__  
__So much better now__  
__I see the light, touch the light,__  
__We're together now_

_I'm better__  
__So much better now__  
__Look to the skies, give me life__  
__We're together now_

_We've only just begun__  
__Hypnotised by drums__  
__Until forever comes__  
__You'll find us chasing the sun__  
__They said this day wouldn't come__  
__We refused to run__  
__We've only just begun__  
__You'll find us chasing the sun_

_Oh oh oh oh oh oh__  
__Oh oh oh oh oh oh__  
__Oh oh oh oh oh oh__  
__You'll find us chasing the sun__  
__Oh oh oh oh oh oh__  
__Oh oh oh oh oh oh__  
__Oh oh oh oh oh oh__  
__You'll find us chasing the sun_

What surprised Katniss the most was the number of little kids around the pool who were dancing to the song. It never ceased to amaze her how anyone could play these kinds of songs around young kids…or what type of parents would allow their kids to grow up listening to it. Someday, it was inevitable that they would learn what those songs actually meant. Then what?

Finally, it was close enough to 5:30 that Katniss decided to head down to floor 5 to meet Peeta. Finding the closest elevator, she entered when it arrived at the pool deck and hit the button for deck 5. The elevator began its decline, but, before reaching deck 5, it first made a stop on deck 7. The doors opened and Peeta entered.

Noticing Katniss, he gave a small wave and told her with a laugh, "Thought we agreed that we'd meet on deck 5."

"Well, that was the plan," Katniss answered, "but you decided to be early too, I guess."

Peeta smiled in reply. "Guess I got tired of sitting around my boring stateroom and staring out at the ocean around us."

"At least you have an ocean view," Katniss told him, "I wish my stateroom had an ocean view…or any view for that matter. With no windows, it feels so constricting. I don't want to spend any more time there than absolutely necessary."

Katniss glanced over to smile at her new friend, but the smile disappeared from her smile when she noticed something that had definitely not been there the last time she had seen him. "Peeta, how did you get that nasty bruise on your cheek?"

Touching the spot of the bruise and wincing slightly, Peeta answered, "Well…I kinda…hit my cheek in the shower. They're a bit small."

He was nervous, Katniss could tell. Was Peeta lying to her? She pushed those thoughts from her mind. Now was not a time to linger on unhappy thoughts. Instead, now was a time for enjoying some quality entertainment with her new friend.

Before Katniss could think further about why Peeta would lie about the bruise on his cheek, the elevator doors opened and the woman on the elevator recording announced that they had arrived on "Deck 5". To their right sides, Katniss and Peeta could hear the abundant sounds within the ship's Casino Royale.

"So…we're like 20 minutes early. Want to go and hang out on the outer deck where those muster stations are located?"

Katniss nodded. She enjoyed deck 5's outer deck because it was the closest deck to the ocean. Together, Katniss and Peeta leaned on the railing of the deck, taking in the fresh ocean breeze and watching the ship cut waves through the water.

Sighing, Katniss couldn't help but to point out, "It's so beautiful."

"Just like you," Peeta whispered, but Katniss had not been paying attention and missed his words.

Turning to face Peeta, she asked Peeta what he had said, but he told her that it wasn't that important and that they could probably go get some seats inside the theater. The show turned out to be, not only a "welcome aboard our ship" show, but also an act full of singing and dancing. Katniss was greatly impressed by how well these men and women performed.

The show ran for roughly an hour and, once it was finished, Peeta and Katniss had to once again part ways to get ready for their formal dinner in about an hour. Peeta ran up the two flights up stairs to deck 7 while Katniss walked slower down the one set of stairs to deck 4. When she arrived back at her stateroom, Katniss saw that Prim was already in the shower, so Katniss set to work pulling out her new, bright yellow dress that her parents had made her buy just for tonight. Laying it out neatly on her bed, she unpacked her heels and stockings.

To pass the time until Prim was done with the shower, Katniss turned on the room's small TV. The first channel gave information about the cruise, along with a map that showed the ship's course, how far they had traveled toward Bermuda, and how far they had left to travel before they arrived there. A message stating to switch watches ahead one hour that night also continually flashed on the channel.

When the information began to repeat, she clicked the channel button until she found a movie channel. The movie on this channel turned out to be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Switching through the next couple channels, she found the same movie in Spanish, German, and French. Having seen the movie plenty of times in English, Katniss left it on the Spanish channel to see if she could understand some of it…even though the subtitles gave it away first.

Finally, Prim finished her shower and Katniss entered the tiny bathroom. Peeta hadn't been kidding that the bathrooms and showers were small. Hanging her formal dress on a hook that she'd found on the door, Katniss prepared to shower. As she stepped into the shower, Katniss undid her braid so she could thoroughly wash her hair. She had forgotten about the night prior, but her hair hadn't and it was increasingly difficult to wash it with the extra chlorine in it.

When she was satisfied, Katniss switched off the water and stepped out into the cool air to dry off and dressed into her formal attire. She had left her stocking and heels out of the bathroom so, once her dress was on, she exited and caught her first glimpse of Prim in her new dress.

"Wow, Katniss! That dress looks great on you!" Prim exclaimed, turning her attention away from the movie.

"I can say the same about you," Katniss said briefly as she put on her stockings and heels.

"Oh, Mom said that she could French braid our hair when we were done."

Katniss nodded. She had actually been wondering what she should do about her hair since her standard braid was too typical and plain for a dress like this.

It was roughly a half hour before the doors of the restaurant would open to let in the waiting diners. Katniss and Prim walked the short distance to their parents' stateroom and they let their daughters in. Mrs. Everdeen French braided Prim's hair first because hers was a little shorter than Katniss's. While Katniss waited, she watched Harry Potter which their parents also had on. However, they were watching it in German.

"Dobby sounds so funny!" Prim exclaimed, laughing as the house elf onscreen spoke in the foreign language.

"He sounds funny in every language," Katniss replied, remembering how he sounded in both the English and Spanish versions. The Spanish Dobby had sounded like he should be playing some Chihuahua in a Mexican taco commercial.

Katniss's mother was very good at French braiding her daughters' hairs and it didn't take her long to finish Prim's. French braiding Katniss's hair always took a little longer because her hair was longer than Prim's but it still only took about 10 minutes. Once that was finished and the obligatory family pictures were taken, the family turned off the TV and proceeded to the restaurant to wait for the doors to open.

The waiting line was a lot longer tonight and Katniss admired everyone's formal attire. Some passengers had gone seriously overboard with the dresses and suits for the night. When the doors opened, the Everdeens walked right over to their table. This time they knew exactly where it was. As Katniss sat down, she noticed Peeta and his family a few tables away. Not close enough to converse with, but enough that she could tell it was him. He wore a suit with a blue tie and his blond hair was slicked back. From this distance, she couldn't tell if he still had that bruise on his face, but, even so, he just didn't look the same in formal attire. To Katniss, he was just too casual and laid back. Anything more than a T-shirt and jeans looked like overkill on Peeta.

The course choices that night was a little fancier than the last night's and Katniss was starting to worry that she'd never be able to eat normally again when she returned to that little suburb in Pennsylvania. After dinner ended, the family all agreed to return to their staterooms to change into more casual clothes before venturing out to their nighttime adventures. Katniss knew that her parents would be heading up to the Viking Crown and her sister had most likely made plans to meet up with Rue, so she guessed that she would be alone…that is, until she happened to glance over at Peeta on the way out of the restaurant. He pointed to his left wrist and then held up the number 5, displaying all fingers on his right hand. Katniss knew what he meant. He was giving her time to change while he did so himself and then he would meet her on deck 5. They liked to meet there. It was as close to a halfway point between their two decks as they could get.

Smiling, she discretely nodded, glad to have someone to hang out with for the night. She did not want to keep Peeta waiting for her too long so while Prim changed in the bedroom, Katniss retreated to the bathroom and put on her clothes from earlier in the day. Never being one that liked overly formal clothes, she was pleased when she could relax into the soft cotton of her casual everday-style jean shorts and small T-shirt. She did, however, leave her hair in the French braid. It was just easier that way. Finishing up, she hung her dress back in the closet and noticed that Prim had already left. Since the room was empty, she turned down the interior lights and left to head up to the spot on deck 5 where she would meet Peeta.

As expected, Peeta was already there waiting for her. Hearing her approach, he turned to face her. "Hey, Katniss!" he greeted her. "You looked really pretty at dinner tonight."

"You looked good too," Katniss replied, "but you don't really strike me as a suit and tie kinda guy, though. It was a bit weird."

"I don't strike myself as a suit and tie kinda guy either, to be honest. They're too stiff and stuffy for me, but if I didn't wear it, well…that's not important," he finished, ending abruptly as if he didn't want to reveal something to Katniss. "So, I was thinking that we could go hang out up at the Viking Crown for a bit. I know you don't like it, but…maybe you'll change your mind if I'm there too? Wishful thinking, I know, but…"

Katniss nodded, but as she looked up into his eyes, she noticed a fresh bruise on Peeta's face, this time on his chin. That was definitely not there earlier. "Peeta…now there's a bruise on your chin too. What's going on?"

He laughed nervously. "Oh that. Yeah, I kinda cut myself shaving tonight. I'm so clumsy. Allow me to go get us an elevator." The boy started off toward the glass elevators located in the centrum balcony area on this deck.

Not wanting to pry, Katniss followed her friend, but she knew that he was definitely lying to her this time. Shaving cuts leave…well…cuts, not bruises. Something was definitely up, but she could also tell that Peeta didn't want her to know and she didn't want to lose his friendship over something like that, even if it did seem to be serious.

Together Peeta and Katniss boarded the full glass elevator and rode it all the way to the top. As the doors opened, the woman on the recording announced for the visually-impaired "Viking Crown". At the entrance, the two teens again had to pass by the cranky host man who gave them their wristbands and warned them not to even look at alcohol.

As they walked into the nightclub, Peeta whispered directly into Katniss's ear, "That guy really needs to lighten up a bit. Not every teen is here to grab a drink."

Katniss covered her mouth as she laughed outloud, but she knew that she didn't have to. Everyone was laughing here and they were nowhere near that guy anymore.

Tonight, Katniss noticed, the nightclub was playing much better music than the night before. It almost made her want to dance, but she hated dancing, so she was more content to just walk the perimeter of the place next to Peeta who led the way. Luckily, it seemed that he was enjoying it and Katniss was glad that at least one of them liked it up there. As they walked closer to their DJ booth, Katniss recognized the middle of a song that Prim had made her listen to a few months ago.

_The sun goes down__  
__The stars come out__  
__And all that counts__  
__Is here and now__  
__My universe will never be the same__  
__I'm glad you came__  
__I'm glad you came_

_You cast a spell on me, spell on me__  
__You hit me like the sky fell on me, fell on me__  
__And I decided you look well on me, well on me__  
__So let's go somewhere no-one else can see, you and me_

Katniss glanced up at Peeta and noticed that he was quietly singing along to the words as they blasted through the nightclub. She'd do that too if she wasn't so self-conscious.

They moved further away from the booth again to walk another perimeter. It wasn't the most exciting thing to do at a nightclub, but they couldn't drink and Peeta knew that Katniss was not one who enjoyed the thrill of a crowded dancefloor so he obliged to make her happy. She almost felt sorry for him. Was he bored? Maybe she should suggest that they do something else?

The DJ booth came into view again. This time, the song words that blasted through the entire nightclub took Katniss back to her childhood. She looked up to Peeta and saw recognition cross his face too.

_Ooh I want you, I don't know if I need you but__  
__Ooh I'd die to find out__  
__Ooh I want you, I don't know if I need you but__  
__Ooh I'd die to find out_

_I'm the kind of person who endorses a deep commitment__  
__Getting comfy getting perfect is what I live for__  
__But a look and then a smell of perfume__  
__It's like I'm down on the floor__  
__And I don't know what I'm in for__  
__Conversation has a time and place in the interaction__  
__Of a lover and a mate but the time of talking__  
__Using symbols, using words can be likened__  
__To a deep sea diver who is swimming with a raincoat__  
_

"Man, I was a kid when I last heard this song!"

"Crazy, isn't it? I have it on my iPod, but it's still weird to hear it in a public setting…even if it is, like, the most perfect nightclub song ever," Katniss replied.

This time, instead of just silently singing the words, Katniss could make them out as Peeta picked up singing the song from the bridge and continued singing through the next chorus along with the song blasting through the nightclub

_Come stand a little bit closer__  
__Breathe in and get a bit higher__  
__You'll never know what hit you when__  
__I get to you_

_Ooh I want you, I don't know if I need you but__  
__Ooh I'd die to find out__  
__Ooh I want you, I don't know if I need you but__  
__Ooh I'd die to find out_

Even though she couldn't see her face, Katniss was sure it reflected shock. How did his voice mesh so perfectly? It was like the song was made for him to sing.

Once the chorus ended, Peeta looked into Katniss's face and must've seen the shock there. He blushed slightly and told her that he'd had about of the nightclub for the evening and asked her if she wanted to go down to the pool deck for awhile. Nodding, the two silently slipped from The Viking Crown Lounge and took the elevator down two decks to, as the wonderful woman on the recording said, "Pool Deck!"

Peeta led the way, grabbing two chairs. Tonight, Katniss made sure that he was not wearing swim trunks. She would not be falling for his tricks two nights in a row. As it turned out, though, swimming had apparently not been in his "to do" list for that night because he had on a nice pair of slacks.

There were plenty of empty chairs on the deck. Many of the kids had gone to bed, leaving the adults to enjoy their nights at one of the many nightclubs and lounges aboard. Katniss was thankful for the quiet. However, she was the one to break it as curiosity got the better of her.

"I didn't know you could sing."

Peeta laughed nervously in reply. "Actually, I can't."

With a mock punch to Peeta's arm, Katniss continued, "Liar! I heard you up there. Your voice completely meshed with that song. It was perfect. Either that song was made for you to sing or you can, in fact, sing."

Shrugging, Peeta smiled slightly as he replied, "I dunno what to tell you cause I really can't sing. My brothers make fun of me when I do."

Katniss knew that she could continue teasing him about this ability that he clearly had, but she chose to just put her hands behind her head and relax. As she relaxed, another song, this time from on the pool deck drifted into her ears. Music sure was abundant on this ship. Just like last time, as the song played, Katniss heard an echo. Glancing over, there was Peeta, softly singing along with the song, his voice meshing along with Enrique's but with less accent.

_I can be your hero, baby__  
__I can kiss away the pain__  
__I will stand by you forever__  
__You can take my breath away_

_Oh, I just wanna hold you.__  
__I just wanna hold you, oh yeah._

_Am I in too deep?__  
__Have I lost my mind?__  
__Well, I don't care, you're here tonight._

_I can be your hero, baby__  
__I can kiss away the pain, oh yeah__  
__I will stand by you forever__  
__You can take my breath away__  
_

As the song faded out, Katniss shifted so she could stare at Peeta. "Caught you. See, you are a much better singer than you give yourself credit for, Peeta Mellark!"

In nervousness, the boy's hand went to the back of his neck and he played with a few strands of hair. "Well…I guess so."

Poking Peeta's chest hard enough to get the message across but not too hard to cause him much pain, she simply replied, "I know so."

A silence fell over the two again as the ocean breeze washed over the deck. Katniss didn't like silence between her and Peeta and she didn't even know why. They didn't have to talk all the time, but when they didn't, it just didn't feel right to her.

In an attempt to make conversation, she spoke up, saying something that she would come to regret. "I wish I could text on this ship without it costing me so much in roaming charges. Gale would love to hear about everything that's been going on."

Because she was trying to imagine Gale's expressions and replies to everything, she did not see Peeta stiffen slightly in the chair next to her, but she heard a slight stiffness in his voice when he spoke next. "Who's Gale?"

With a small smile, Katniss turned to face Peeta and told him, "Oh, he's my friend. We go to the same high school. We tell each other everything because we're pretty close."

Immediately, Peeta looked down at his watch. "Is it that late already? Oh darn, I need to go. Long day on shore tomorrow. Have a good night, Katniss."

Before she could even stop him, he'd gotten up from his deck chair and walked briskly toward the nearest staircase and elevators. Katniss could instantly tell that something was wrong. Peeta's last reply had been very rushed, he had not volunteered to walk her back to her stateroom and, most importantly, he had not told her that he'd see her again soon. He always said that before they parted.

Katniss did not want to return to her stateroom just yet. She knew that Peeta would not change his mind and return tonight, but she knew that, regardless, she wouldn't be able to sleep yet either, so she stayed on the deck. That was probably a mistake. The ocean breeze that had been so warm just moments before now felt cold as Katniss sat on that deck chair feeling more alone than ever. _**Peeta…**_

* * *

**I finished typing this up hours ago, but the Phillies game was on, so I decided to watch that first. I shouldn't have cause it didn't turn out so good. **

**This is my first 6,000+ word chapter ever. It feels so long…**

**Next chapter should be a little shorter, I think. This one had a lot of music in it and I don't think there's that much in the next one. **

**Notes about the chapter. Well, obviously, all the Peeta/Katniss scenes are made up. A lot of the other scenes were true, but this chapter has the most improvisations in it thus far. There was free ice cream on our cruise ship, though. It was fantastic. Also, I did go to the show (but with family), it was formal night at dinner, and we did watch Harry Potter in multiple languages. **

**Before I go…just wanted to say, that the Savage Garden song from this chapter ("I Want You") really does sound like the perfect song for Peeta. It really sounds like he could sing it…and imagining Josh singing it…that was pretty fun to do, just saying. As for the Enrique one….I wasn't going to have Peeta sing that, but it had to happen. You'll find out why later, but you can take guesses if you want.**

**Think that's all I've got for now. Hope this was enjoyable and we'll be docking on shore next chapter! Stay tuned! It won't be til next week, though. Reading **_**Catching Fire **_**and **_**Mockingjay**_** over the weekend…finally!… And don't forget about the question I asked in the beginning of the chapter. It's important because I want to take everyone's thoughts into consideration.**


	5. Bermuda:Day 3

**So…still thinking about doing that story in Peeta's POV. Haven't heard anyone say not to, so I'll get around to working on that one as this one draws to a close. **

**Anyway…so…it's finally here. A full day in Bermuda. For those of us, like me, who didn't get vacation this year, I'll try to make it as detailed as possible. **

**I think that's all I've got for now, so I will talk with you all again at the end of the chapter…**

* * *

Chapter 5: On Land (Day 3)

The ringing of the stateroom phone again proved to be Katniss's and Prim's alarm clock for the morning. Katniss pulled her pillow over her head to block out the sound, but when it was clear that Prim was not going to pick up the phone, she grumbled and stumbled over to the phone, answering the call to the overly joyful voice of their father.

His wake-up call was earlier today because the ship would be docking into shore today and Mr. Everdeen wanted the whole family to be together when that happened so they could immediately begin their day of exploration. They had about two hours to get changed into the clothes they would wear on shore and grab breakfast.

After hanging up the phone, Katniss roused Prim, telling her younger sister that tomorrow she would be picking up the phone. Of course, Prim protested, saying that Katniss was closer and all that and…why did she always give in to her little sister? She really needed to work on that too. Once they were both ready to go, they met up down the hall with their parents and took the elevator up to the Windjammer Marketplace. The whole way there, Katniss couldn't help glancing around to see if she could spot Peeta. Maybe she could find out why he left so suddenly last night.

As they ate, Katniss remembered that Peeta had mentioned yesterday that he liked to run on the track on deck 10 in the morning. What was the chance that, at only 8:45, he would still be there? Finishing her breakfast, Katniss excused herself from the table, making plans about meeting the rest of the family on the outer deck of deck 5 when it came time to dock at the Bermudian shore.

Taking the nearby stairs two at a time, Katniss found herself quickly on deck 10. The running track circled the whole perimeter of the pool deck. How could anyone stay focused on working out when the view was so amazing up here? In the distance, Katniss caught sight of Peeta's blond hair glinting in the sunlight. She waited til he got a little closer and then tried to get his attention by waving an arm and calling out his name.

When he did not take notice, she assumed that he was either ignoring her or he had not seen her. Her next attempt to get his attention was foolish and dumb as she realized a minute later when she had stepped out into the track, into his pathway. He noticed at the last minute, but he still managed to side-step her, tripping slightly. Katniss stepped back from the track, but she noticed the nasty glare he threw back at her briefly before continuing his run. She would just wait until he finished. He would have to finish before they docked at shore, right?

As it turned out, he finished at nine. How long had he been running? An hour? A half hour? It didn't matter. He slowed and grabbed a towel from a nearby chair and started to wipe the sweat from his face, pulling out the earbuds of his iPod as he did.

"That was foolish, Katniss. Why would you ever put yourself in the path of a runner? Especially one who is clearly bigger than you?" he asked her, an edge cutting through his voice.

_**So he's still upset**_. "I just wanted to talk to you, Peeta. I want to know what's up. Why you left last night? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," he replied, but the edge in his voice told Katniss that he was lying. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm going for a swim and a shower before we dock on shore." He began to walk away, but stopped slightly. Without turning around, he told her, "And, please leave me alone. Enjoy your vacation in your own way and I'll enjoy my vacation in mine, okay?" Katniss watched him get smaller and smaller as she replayed his words over and over in her head, his words which felt like an ice-cold knife stabbed straight through her heart. Why did he hate her so much now? What got him so unhappy?

With nothing else to do, Katniss headed down the same stairs which Peeta had exited on minutes ago. She contemplated stopping on the pool deck, but he had told her that he did not want her in his life, so she just kept walking down to deck 5. There were chairs down there. She could just use this time to think because, apparently, that was really what she needed right now.

About a half hour later, the rest of the Everdeen family joined Katniss on the outer deck of deck 5 and they found a place on the railing where they could get a good look at the docking process. When that began to become less interesting, they all took their first glances at the island. How beautiful it looked with ruins of old fortresses situated high above the dock.

When the ship was fully docked, the captain gave everyone instructions about how to leave the ship, get through customs, and basic information about what could be found in the port. As it turned out, getting through customs was a breeze (because none of them had brought any fruit from breakfast with them) and they didn't even need their passports yet.

In the port, as they explored the basic layout, the family decided they wanted to go see the famous Crystal Caves and spend some time on one of the famous pink-sand beaches before getting lunch. With that decided, their first plan of action was a short walk to the nearest bus station for an all-day pass. They had decided to go see the caves first, so, once they had their bus passes, they found the bus numbers of the routes that would take them there directly and waited for the next bus to arrive.

"Now, I was reading up on mass transportation here and it said that when you get on the bus, either find a seat or stand, but either way, hang on tightly."

"Either way?" Katniss spoke up. She had been quiet since her conversation with Peeta. "It's a bus. How dangerous can it be?"

A bus that would be taking one of the routes they needed pulled up to the station and, flashing the passes to board, they climbed up onto the bus. Because it was early in the morning, they had no trouble finding a seat. Once the bus was filled up, the driver backed it out of the station and the ride began.

The first thing the Everdeens noticed was that traffic moved on the opposite side of the road from what they were used to. The second thing they noticed was the high speed at which traffic moved. Those _**numbers flashing by, were they maximum speed limits…or minimum speed limits?**_ Katniss wondered. Not only that, but the roads were narrow. Some time along the ride, a passing fire truck cleanly took off the bus's right mirror. The family heard the clunk, but, unlike at home, the bus kept going. No accident was ever reported.

When they finally make it to the caverns, the family eagerly exits the bus. No one spoke. It was as if they were all processing how they had survived the ride.

"Okay…what the hell was that?" Katniss spoke up first, asking the question on the tip of everyone's minds.

"Katniss, language!" her mother scolded, but no one bother to pay attention, especially the mentioned eldest daughter.

Finally, they walked the rest of the way to the caverns. When they got there, Mr. Everdeen ordered them tickets and told them that the next tour would start in about fifteen minutes.

There was not much to say about the caves. The tour group only visited one small section of the caverns because most of it was still just solid rock. Their tour guide was very knowledgeable as he told them how two boys had discovered the caves went they went to retrieve a lost ball. He even briefly switched off the lights so the group could see how dark it would've been when the boys had first found the site. It was then that Katniss decided that she never wanted to be in a dark cave…even if Peeta Mellark was there too.

After the tour ended, the family waited for a while, trying to prolong the time until they had to again board those Bermuda public buses. However, the more time that they waited, the less time they would have on the beach, so when the next bus to the beaches came, they boarded.

Just like at the cave, it was still a walk from the bus stop to the beach, but it was a nice day and the warm Bermudian breeze made the heat more bearable. The family had not planned to make the beach an all-day excursion, so they had not brought swimsuits or beach towels. Instead, they removed their shoes and socks and walked out into the soft waves of crystal-clear water.

As Katniss had walked down the beach, she had caught sight of Peeta with the rest of his family. Until today, she had not yet seen his parents or brothers and it was kinda strange to see them together now. There was Peeta standing nearest to his father. It was clear that he had gotten his looks from his father because his mother looked nothing as Katniss would've imagined her to look. An overweight brunette was the complete opposite of muscular blonde Peeta. His two older brothers, both several inches taller than him, had their mother's hair, but their father's build. While she was staring, making her observations, Peeta looked up and across the beach at her. Emotion drained from his face as his blue eyes, as beautiful as the crystal-clear water in front of Katniss, drifted away to look anywhere but at her.

Katniss desperately wanted to walk over there and get him to talk, but this was not the place to do it. Therefore, she honored his wishes and joined her family out in the water.

It was early afternoon when they decided to return to a pub they had found in the port while exploring it that morning. As they walked back, Katniss glanced over at the place where Peeta's family had been earlier. Now, it was only his mother who caught her staring and threw a scowl her way. With a quick turn of her head, she noticed Peeta out in the water with his brothers. The two older brothers were ganging up on poor Peeta who was smaller and outnumbered. Dang, they liked to play rough. Was that how Peeta kept getting those bruises? That had to be it. No wonder he hadn't wanted to make a big deal out of them. It really was nothing, as he had told her before.

Another bus ride later and they had arrived at the port. Katniss silently thanked God that they would not be riding the bus again today because the family had decided to explore the nearby port shops after lunch. The pub was a popular lunch destination and it took about an hour and a half after they were seated to get their food. However, because there was no drinking age in Bermuda, the whole family ordered fruity island drinks, even little Prim, much to Katniss's displeasure.

There were plenty of shops surrounding the port and the family decided to do their souvenir shopping that day because the next day, they would be shipping out pretty early in the afternoon. When everyone was content with their souvenir purchases, the family again boarded the ship. Once on the ship, Katniss pulled out one of the many souvenirs that she had bought. It was a pocketknife with the word "Bermuda" on the front. On the back, she had specially engraved her name. Within her bag was a matching one for Gale because she just had to get him something and she knew he would like this gift.

That night at dinner, Katniss tried so hard not to glance over at Peeta, but the one time she had locked eyes with him, he had turned back to his family again, pointing to a basket of rolls. A sure sign that he was never going to forgive her for whatever she had done to upset him. After dinner, Peeta exited with his family, making sure to stay on the side away from Katniss. He did not even attempt to make any plans with her. It didn't matter, though. If she knew him, he would be hanging out up at the Viking Crown Lounge and that was one place she did not care to go to alone.

Instead, Katniss walked along the pool deck until she found Prim and Rue playing ping-pong at one of the tables. This was the first time that the eldest Everdeen girl had met Rue and she was glad that Prim had found a good friend her age. _**I met a good friend my age too**_, she reminded herself, _**but it looks like that friendship ended before it even really started. **_

The two younger girls played ping-pong until they lost the ball. It was then that Prim decided that they should go swimming and the two hurried off to their staterooms to change. Katniss lingered on the pool deck for a little longer to give Prim some time to change. It was that time of the night when the youngest passengers were starting to be put to bed and the pool deck had quieted down as the excitement raged on in the Viking Crown. Walking silently over to the railing, she looked out over the island of Bermuda. Small tears fell from her eyes down into the water below. The tears left salty tracks on her face which she quickly wiped away. Peeta had been with her since that first night and now that he was gone, she felt so alone and bored. Quietly, she sniffled slightly.

Prim and Rue returned to the pool deck and jumped into the pool. Katniss left the pool deck to the sounds of their laughter. It brought a small sad smile to her face. With nothing better to do, Katniss walked slowly back to the stateroom. It felt strange not to be gliding over the waves. She noticed it earlier on land and now here on the stationary ship. When she walked, it felt like she was swaying. She hoped that it wasn't noticeable because she definitely did not want to appear drunk.

In the stateroom, she completed the daily Sudoku that she had picked up that morning. Once that was finished, she lay down on the bed and shut her eyes even though the light was still on for Prim. For the past couple nights, the ship's swaying over the waves had created a calming rocking feeling that had allowed Katniss to fall asleep faster and sleep better. Of course, the down comforter on the bed also helped a bit too. Now that the ship was stationary, the rocking feeling was not there and Katniss knew that she would not sleep well tonight. Pulling the down comforter up, she used it to block the light from her eyes and allowed herself to sleep into the blackness of oblivion.

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**No music in this chapter…and no real Peeta/Katniss moments. Guess we know now what makes up the bulk of chapters. **

**Notes time: Starting from the top, I had that same conversation with my sister cause I was tired of answering the phone, but she claimed that I was closest. I did not give into her, but Katniss is the type who would definitely give into her sister's wishes because she loves her sister so much. The scene with Peeta and Katniss on the running track could be considered an extra. It was not originally in my plans to write that scene, but it kinda came up and I liked the idea of it, so I kept it in. My family watched the ship as it docked into the city and, yes, getting in through customs really was that easy. The rest of their plan is basically how it went for us. Yes, the bus and fire track scene actually did happen. It was pretty funny, now that I remember it…and that I'm still alive to tell so. Me and my sister played ping-pong until we lost the ball, but it seemed better if it was Prim and Rue playing instead of Katniss and Prim. Lastly, those feelings that I described at the end were true. After the cruise, I felt like I was swaying when I walked for almost a week. **

**Anyway, next chapter will be longer again. It will feature both on shore and at sea sections again. We've hit the halfway point of the story, so I will soon be turning attention to this story once again…in Peeta's third person POV. **

**That's all I've got for you, so…until next time…**

**Posted: August 7, 2012**


	6. Homeward Bound:Day 4

**So…we've passed the halfway point of the story. Hard to believe it's moving so fast, but I have decided that I will create a version in Peeta's third person POV so everyone can look forward to that in the near future. **

**I haven't done this in a while, but…replies to reviews. Everyone likes those. Haha. **

_**readface**_**: Thanks and yup, I wanted Peeta's reaction to be unique. Although, originally, that scene on the deck was not planned, so I was just going to have him ignore Katniss, but…somehow that scene changed everything.**

_**Inuyasha'sLoveKagome**_**: Thanks for reading and reviewing. Here's the next chapter. **

_**peetame**_**: Your review made me laugh when I opened the email. My mom probably thought I was crazy cause I was sitting in a Dairy Queen parking lot and just started cracking up. It is true, though. We all love Peeta and, speaking of love, I love your profile pic. It's nice.**

_**MaidenAlice**_**: I love when people ask questions in reviews, but…I can't answer them yet. That would give away some very important info. However, maybe not this chapter but the next one might explain that. **

**That said…here's the next chapter. Please enjoy this half day on shore and half day on the return voyage homeward.**

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Chapter 6: Homeward Bound (Day 4)

Katniss knew what to expect that morning when the stateroom phone rang. Another overly joyful wake-up call from her father and Prim would sleep right through it. After she got off the phone, she again woke up Prim and they got ready to meet their parents for breakfast.

The family grabbed a quick breakfast at the Windjammer Marketplace because they knew that they would only have a few hours to visit the island before the ship pulled out to begin the passage home. Because of this, they decided to take one last walk around the dock without exploring too much more in-depth on the island. They had done a decent amount of sightseeing yesterday and no one wanted to risk another ride on those buses. Instead, they spent their hours at the shops and bought some last-minute souvenirs.

When it came time to report back to the ship, the family had to proceed through a more intense form of customs. It was not as intense as the customs that they would encounter upon entering their home country once again, but it was definitely not as easygoing as it had been the day before.

Once aboard the ship once again, the family took the elevator up to the pool deck to watch as the ship prepared to set sail. They chose a spot on the railing along the back of the ship so that they could watch as Bermuda would get smaller and smaller until fading out of sight.

Right on schedule, the humming of the ship's engines return and Katniss felt the deck under her begin to sway as the ship began to pull away from the port. How she had missed that calming rocking feeling. Maybe she'd sleep better tonight. Last night, the oblivion that had overtaken her had done nothing; she had felt suspended in unending blackness and was relieved when the phone woke her up that morning

As the ship began to slowly pull further and further into the ocean, Katniss noticed that another ship, a Norwegian Dawn model, was also docked at the port. Unlike the ship which she was on, this ship was not pulling out just yet. It must have been a longer cruise that spent more than just a day and a half at the island because that ship had been docked at the port even before their ship had pulled up to dock. From that ship, came a shout, meeting the ears of everyone on the outer decks. "Our ship's better than yours!" Katniss's family exchanged glances before they burst out laughing. No one aboard their ship yelled anything back. They were all caught by surprise at how random the moment had been.

When the ship was well on its way homeward, the family split up. Prim went to go find Rue and Katniss, not one to enjoy being left alone with the parents, decided to just take a walk around the ship. She doubted that she'd find anything new, but it was better than being stuck hanging out with her parents. Alone.

After leaving and heading off on her own, Katniss decided to head down to the outer deck of deck 5. She liked it because it was the closest outer deck to the water. _**It must be nice to see the sunset from this deck.**_ Maybe sometime she would see it.

Strangely, the deck was quiet; the only sounds belonged to the breeze as it swept across the open deck. Up ahead, Katniss saw the familiar blonde hair that belonged to Peeta Mellark. How at peace he looked as the breeze flowed through his hair, messing it slightly, but _**definitely messy in a good way**_, Katniss decided. Silently, she walked up to stand beside him at the railing. He was lost in thought and did not notice her appearance.

Gazing silently out at the calm waters in front of her, Katniss caught glimpses of dolphins jumping alongside the ship. "Look," she pointed out to Peeta. "There's dolphins out there a ways. Isn't that cool?"

Her attempt at a conversation pulled Peeta from his thoughts. He jumped slightly, but recovered quickly. "Yeah…neat…" he replied in a bored tone as his attention focused on a military helicopter nearby. An awkward silence fell between them. Katniss desperately wanted to ask Peeta about what was troubling him, but she could also tell that he didn't seem very interested in talking with her.

The helicopter finally disappeared from sight and Peeta pushed himself back from the railing. "I have to go get ready for dinner," he stated simply before briskly walking to the door that led back into the ship's interior deck 5.

Katniss knew that he had just given her another excuse. There were still several hours until dinner and it was only semi-formal night. She desperately wanted to follow him, stop him from running, and finally figure out what was bothering him. The only problem was that she had tried several times to talk with him. He just didn't want to talk which left only one solution. To solve the problem between them, Peeta would have to be the one to come to her.

With nothing better to do, Katniss returned to her stateroom as well. This was the first time she had been there for an extended amount of time (other than the overnights) and she felt even more constricted within the small room.

Laying down on her freshly-made bed, Katniss spent time puzzling over the daily Sudoku. As the days went on, the Sudoku puzzles had gotten harder and harder. She didn't know if she would be able to solve this one…especially since thoughts of Peeta clouded her mind. Just like always, though, she managed to finish it after a couple hours.

Katniss added the completed Sudoku to her pile of other completed Sudoku puzzles and changed position so she now lie on her back on the bed. She stared at the ceiling, attempting to rid her mind of all the thoughts that raged battles within. The calming rocking feeling eventually lulled her into a nap and she was asleep before she realized it.

Her nap lasted a couple hours until Prim entered the room and roused her to start getting ready for dinner. Even though it was only a semi-formal night for dinner, Katniss's mother had insisted that the girls wear simple dresses because the parents wanted to get some professional family portraits that night before dinner. Katniss had brought along a nice blue dress that had once belonged to her mother. Even though it was old, it was, by no means, outdated. In fact, the dress was just perfect for the night. Prim, on the other hand, had a white dress. Her dress was no more elaborate than Katniss's, but it was perfect all the same.

Once they were dressed, the girls walked over to their parents' stateroom again so Mrs. Everdeen could style their hair for the pictures and dinner. For Prim, she chose to split her hair into halves and braid each half so that, when finished, she would have two long blonde braids. For Katniss, Mrs. Everdeen tried something more complex where she first braided Katniss's hair and then pinned the braid to her head so that it did not hang free like usual.

When everyone was ready, the family headed out to The Centrum where the cruise photographers had set up multiple backdrops for pictures. After looking at all the backgrounds, the family decided they liked a backdrop that showcased a night scene complete with a full moon which rippled across the painted water. They did not have to wait too long until it was their turn. The first pictures were focused on Katniss and Prim. Sensing the strong bond between the sisters, the photographers had Prim stand in the front and then Katniss kneel down slightly behind her, placing her chin gently on Prim's left shoulder while hugging her. It was a beautiful pose and Katniss hoped the picture turned out well. Next, it was their parents turn. The photographer used several poses, each one designed to showcase the love that the Everdeen parents had for each other.

All that remained was a full family portrait which everyone agreed would look best if taken in front of The Centrum's Grand Staircase. The photographer situated the family in the spot where they would get the best possible results. Katniss and Prim were on the ends and their parents stood between them. Katniss stood beside her mother on the right side of the picture and Prim, on the left, stood by their dad.

Pictures completed, the family headed off to dinner. They did not have to wait tonight because the doors had already been opened. As they settled into their familiar table, Katniss looked over and saw Peeta. He was wearing a pair of khaki slacks with a white dress shirt. Again, he had his hair slicked back. The look was definitely closer to normal, but Katniss still felt that he was a person who only looked truly normal and relaxed in casual-wear.

After dinner, Katniss was not surprised that Peeta left quietly with his family again. This was how things were going to be now and Katniss knew that she would just have to accept it. Forgetting about Peeta, Katniss returned her focus to her family as they started to discuss plans for the night. As per the usual, Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen would be heading up to the Viking Crown for the drink of the day. However, Prim spoke up that her and Rue were going to see the movie that they were showing at the theater on deck 5. All eyes turned to Katniss who lied, saying that she'd probably just hang around the pool deck for a while.

Leaving the restaurant, the family parted. Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen headed up to the Viking Crown. Prim headed off to meet up with Rue. Katniss just began a slow walk toward the elevators. She had decided to go see the movie, but she didn't want to intrude on Prim and Rue so she waited until she figured that they would be there and then slipped quietly into the back of the auditorium. It felt weird to sit alone in a theater. Usually, when she had the luxury of seeing a movie it was with Prim or Gale or both. A ways down in front, she thought she caught sight of the familiar blonde hair that she had come to recognize. _**It's probably just Prim. Why would Peeta come see a movie anyway? He's probably up at the Viking Crown like always.**_

The room darkened and the movie began. It was some cartoon about a lizard. The movie wasn't exactly something that Katniss would pay to see, but right now it was a free showing and she was bored. When the movie ended and as the credits began to roll, Katniss quickly slipped out of the room and headed briskly though the closed shopping plaza and roaring casino until she was sure that she had evaded being caught at the auditorium by Primrose.

With nothing else to do for the night, Katniss returned to her stateroom and plopped right down on her bed. Glancing over at the nightstand that she was sharing with Prim, her eyes first landed on her silent phone. How she wanted to just quickly pick it up and turn it on, but she knew that when she did, there would be a delayed text from Gale and she didn't want to pay the roaming charges just because she was impatient. Instead, she grabbed her iPod. Flipping it on, she found a song and turned it on. Prim wasn't around and probably wouldn't be for a little while, so she risked a quick moment to shut her eyes and sing the lyrics out loud.

_Made a wrong turn, once or twice__  
__Dug my way out, blood and fire__  
__Bad decisions, that's alright__  
__Welcome to my silly life__  
__Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood__  
__Miss 'No way, it's all good', it didn't slow me down__  
__Mistaken, always second guessing, underestimated__  
__Look, I'm still around_

_Pretty pretty please, don't you ever ever feel__  
__Like you're less than, less than perfect__  
__Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel like you're nothing__  
__You are perfect to me!_

A light tap on her shoulder made Katniss quickly pull the earbuds out. She quickly discarded her iPod, forgetting to turn it off. Prim had returned. She remained silent, but Katniss easily read her expression, one that clearly stated "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Y-You're back early," Katniss stuttered slightly as she grabbed the discarded iPod and turned it off.

"Not really. It's almost 12:45."

"How much did you hear?" Katniss continued. Had Prim heard the whole first part of the song?

"Just that last chorus. You really are a great singer, Katniss. Who were you singing about?"

Katniss really did not want to answer that question, so she ended the conversation by saying that she was tired and wanted to get some sleep. Because it was so late, Prim obliged and turned off the stateroom light. In the comfort of the total darkness, Katniss mused over her choice of song. It seemed like the right choice. For the most part, that song fit. This fight, if you could call it that, between her and Peeta…he really made it seem like it was her fault, yet he was unwilling to accept her apology. It was only when he had slipped away again that she had begun to realize just how perfect he really was. That was why she made herself one last promise for the night. Somehow, she would gain back his friendship and trust before the end of the cruise, but…could she do that with just the one day that was left for the cruise vacation?

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**Another nice short chapter for everyone. Next chapter will be much longer. I can tell you that already. **

**Notes time: Not much to say. Most of what happened in this chapter happened on my cruise. Even the "Our ship is better…!" line. In fact, I think I'm gonna write a little short companion piece about that. The Peeta/Katniss moment was real and not real. It did happen on my cruise where we saw dolphins and the helecopter, but, obviously Katniss and Peeta were not in it. The movie really did happen on my cruise. It was the same one, but I think they broadcast it earlier in the day. 10PM is a little late a time to start a children's movie. That's about all the notes I've got.**

**Next chapter gets interesting. Trust me, you don't want to miss it. It will be out as soon as I get it written. Thanks for reading this chapter.**

**Posted: August 9, 2012**


	7. At Sea:Day 5

**We've had two short chapters, so I think it's time for a nice long one. Quick review replies and then we'll begin…**

_**Inuyasha'sLoveKagome**_**: When? Hmm…Soon…? They only have one day left, afterall. I'm glad you liked the chapter.**

_**peetame**_**: Yeah, he's not handling things in the best possible way. That's for sure. Also, that last scene was originally an extra. It wasn't in my original planning, but I liked it and I thought the idea of Prim catching Katniss singing about Peeta (even if she never mentions that the song was about Peeta) was interesting. Your reviews make me laugh too, so I'm glad I can pass that along through my stories. **

_**It's Mellarkable**_**: Thanks. You may enjoy this chapter. Great penname, by the way.**

**Okay, now since that's out of the way, here's chapter 7. Please enjoy!**

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Chapter 7: At Sea (Day 5)

When the stateroom phone rang to signal the start of the day, Katniss was awake instantly to grab it. Today was the last day to fulfill her promise to gain back Peeta's friendship and trust. If she failed to do so today, she would lose him forever and she could not bear the thought of that. In fact, the thought of losing contact with Peeta forever felt worse than losing contact with Gale for these five days. When did that happen?

Picking up the phone to tell her father that she was awake, he was shocked that Katniss was so alert this early in the morning. That never happened. After hanging up the stateroom phone and rousing Prim, Katniss got ready for the daily morning meeting to walk up to the Windjammer Marketplace for breakfast.

This morning, at breakfast, the family was treated to an interesting sight. Out on the ocean, a minor storm raged and the ship was navigating right through it. Because the Windjammer dining area was surrounded by windows, they got many angles of the storm. It was not major, though, and the ship had quickly navigated back out into clearer skies.

"So, today in a few hours, they have a ceremony in The Centrum called The Ceremony of Flags where they showcase all the countries that the crew is from. Anyone else interested in seeing it?" Mr. Everdeen asked as he finished his breakfast. In reply, the three Everdeen women nodded.

After breakfast, they took the elevator down to deck 5 where they found a balcony spot overlooking The Centrum. The ceremony took no longer than 20 minutes, but, what Katniss found interesting about it was that there was a least one crew member from everywhere in the world. How neat that was to see them proudly waving some flags that she had never seen in person and would probably never see firsthand again. When the ceremony was over, Katniss told her parents that she was going to relax on the pool deck for most of the day. Before she left, Mrs. Everdeen told her that the rest of the family was going to see a show in a couple of hours and they invited her to join. This was an invitation that Katniss was glad to accept. She had seen the other show with Peeta and this show would feature the same acts. However, she did secretly hope that Peeta would not be there. There was only so many times that he could ignore her before it started to really tug at her heart. As she was leaving, her parents told her that the stewards would be picking everyone's bags up after ten that night. Katniss promised to pack hers and set it outside her room before she went to the show.

Alone on the pool deck, she relaxed and tried to think of ways to apologize to Peeta, ways that he would actually listen to. In addition, she took serious advantage of the free ice cream machine and had at least five or six full cups of chocolate soft serve. Whoever said that chocolate ice cream worked wonders for problems involving the heart was right and wrong. It was only a temporary solution and, when she would reach the bottom of the cup, she would have to get more just to feel better.

Just before she was going to leave to go pack her suitcase, Katniss thought of something Prim had said to her last night. "You really are a great singer, Katniss." Those had been her exact words. Could that be the answer? It was a long shot, especially since there would have to be an open mic night somewhere tonight and Peeta would have to be there at the time. However, if she didn't at least try, she would never know.

With that last thought firmly in place, Katniss left the pool deck and headed to her stateroom. Most of her stuff was already together, so it was not hard to pack it up and she made sure that tomorrow's outfit and anything else essential for the next day was packed into her smaller "carry-on" bag before setting her suitcase outside the stateroom door. Satisfied with her work, Katniss left the stateroom and took the nearest staircase up a deck to go to the theater.

Tonight's show featured the same acts as the ones from their second day aboard. However, this time, it was the closing show. After the show, the family went up one deck to go look at their pictures from last night in the photo gallery. When they found versions that they were satisfied with, Mr. Everdeen took them to the checkout counter to buy.

By that time, it was time for dinner. It was hard to believe that, after tonight, Katniss would have to adjust to eating common food once again. She most definitely was not ready for that. All the meals prepared on the ship in this restaurant were so exquisite. How could she ever eat normal food again?

As they were finishing up their dinner, Prim spoke up, "Hey, can we get a picture with the waiters? They were so nice and funny. Please?"

At first, Mr. Everdeen was against the idea, but he eventually softened to it and replied by telling her, "We'll ask them, but if they say no, we won't beg, right, Primrose?"

Prim nodded, but she had a feeling that the waiters would agree because they really had seemed to like serving the Everdeen family. Much to Prim's delight, when the waiters returned, they agreed to the picture. Katniss did not like getting her picture taken very often, so she quickly volunteered to take it instead.

On the way out of the restaurant, Katniss did not even look for Peeta. She knew that he would leave quietly and want nothing to do with her. She sure hoped that he plan would work, but there were so many "if"s, that she was even starting to question it herself. When her parents headed off to the Viking Crown and Prim left to go meet up with Rue, Katniss walked slowly over to program schedule which stood near the entrance to the restaurant. Luckily, it appeared that the Boleros Lounge on deck 5 would have an open mic night event starting in about 45 minutes around 10:30. Perfect. Now, what was the chance that Peeta would happen to be there tonight?

Not having much else to do, Katniss headed up to the Boleros Lounge and took a seat near a window. There was not much to see outside now that it was dark, so she just listened to the sounds of the oldies music playing in the lounge. She wasn't sure if this was a nightclub, but she definitely liked it a lot better than The Viking Crown.

As she waited, Katniss thought of some of the songs she knew well. What could she sing? What songs would be most influential to Peeta if he were to hear them? Before she knew it, it was already 10:30 and the open mic night event was starting. Katniss, by all means, did not want to go first, but she did feel some nervousness well up inside her. What if she messed up? What if she made a complete fool of herself? What if it all didn't matter? That would probably be the case. Why would Peeta Mellark be here tonight when he could be up at The Viking Crown just like always?

A lull settled over the crowd about 15 minutes later. The last person had finished and no one had immediately risen to take the stage. On stage, the host, some strange man who called himself…was it…Flickerman…called out to the audience, looking for volunteers.

Looks like it's not or never. Katniss stood up and yelled out, "I volunteer!"

With a smile, the host found her in the back and followed her with his eyes as she moved up to take the stage. To participate, the singer just had to tell the band what song they wished to sing. If the band was unfamiliar with the song, the singer could play it for them or the host could hook the singer's musical device up to his computer and play the background that way. Regardless of how it got done, the singer would still be able to sing the song of his or her choice.

Once on stage, Katniss whispered her selection to the band leader who agreed to play the background for her. When the music started, all the nervousness that Katniss had felt seem to disappear. She knew what she wanted to sing, why she wanted to and what she hoped to accomplish by doing it.

"Good evening, everyone. My name is Katniss Everdeen. I'm 16 and am from Pennsylvania. I'm not really much of a singer...well…at least…I don't think I am, but I hope you enjoy my rendition of this song anyway."

It was time to sing now and she let the words flow. This was her last chance. Would Peeta be here to listen?

_It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart__  
__Without saying a word, you can light up the dark__  
__Try as I may I could never explain__  
__What I hear when you don't say a thing.  
__  
__The smile on your face lets me know that you need me__  
__There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me__  
__The touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall__  
__You say it best, when you say nothing at all._

Closing her eyes, she put all her emotion into the song. This was truly her passion and this was the first time that she had willingly shown it in public. Heck, she never sang around her family either, but, last night, Prim's catching her singing was probably the best thing that could happen. It had given her this idea.

Before she knew it, it was time for the final chorus. This was it. She opened her silver eyes to gaze out as the ground and was surprised to see that all voices and chatter in the lounge had ceased. That had not happened when the others were singing. Was she that bad? No, she couldn't think about that right now. First, she had to finish the song. Softening her voice and slowing just like the actual song does, she finished just above a whisper:

_The smile on your face lets me know that you need me__  
__There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me__  
__The touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall__  
__You say it best, when you say nothing at all..._

As the ending chords drifted through the lounge, the crowd remained silent. That was a bad sign. She had failed. Now she would never regain Peeta's friendship and trust. He was not there. He hadn't heard her song.

Then, without warning, someone shouted "Encore!" Katniss looked towards where she had heard the voice, but she couldn't see because the area was shrouded in shadows. However, this one shout sparked shouts of the very same word among the crowd that had gathered on the wooden dancing floor. With a small smile, Katniss decided that she could please everyone and sing one more song. She knew just the one and made sure that the background band was aware of her choice.

"I'd like to dedicate this song to my own hero. He probably isn't here right now. We had a fall-out a few days ago. One of my best memories involves the two of us upstairs on the pool deck. He sang…an Enrique Iglesias song and I laughed a little at that, but later on the words of the song hit home. The words were 'I can be your hero'. We haven't talked since that night, but I took those words to heart. You are more than just my hero. You are my friend and I would give anything just to talk with you again. If you're here, you know who you are and this song is for you…"

The music began and Katniss stepped back up to the mic. That last song was now practice. This one is the one that matters. _**If Peeta is going to hear any song that I sing, I want it to be this one. Please let the odds be in my favor this time.**_

_There's a hero__  
__If you look inside your heart__  
__You don't have to be afraid__  
__Of what you are__  
__There's an answer__  
__If you reach into your soul__  
__And the sorrow that you know__  
__Will melt away_

_And then a hero comes along__  
__With the strength to carry on__  
__And you cast your fears aside__  
__And you know you can survive__  
__So when you feel like hope is gone__  
__Look inside you and be strong__  
__And you'll finally see the truth__  
__That a hero lies in you_

_It's a long road__  
__When you face the world alone__  
__No one reaches out a hand__  
__For you to hold__  
__You can find love__  
__If you search within yourself__  
__And the emptiness you felt__  
__Will disappear_

_And then a hero comes along__  
__With the strength to carry on__  
__And you cast your fears aside__  
__And you know you can survive__  
__So when you feel like hope is gone__  
__Look inside you and be strong__  
__And you'll finally see the truth__  
__That a hero lies in you_

She poured all of her emotion into this song, even more so than the last one. This was the song that would matter. A few stray tears slipped from her eyes as she remembered some of her best moments with Peeta during the first part of the cruise. What she wouldn't give to have that Peeta, the one who liked being with her, back again. _**Please, Peeta, forgive me…for whatever I did**_.

The song slowed and drifted to the end. Even before the song finished, the crowd had already started to applaud. Katniss had won them over, but it didn't matter to her unless Peeta was among them. Clearly he was not, though, because he did not approach the stage. Even when Katniss looked over to that shadowy corner where the person had sparked up the desire for an encore, that person was gone too.

"Thank you," she whispered softly into the mic and jumped down from the stage. Immediately, she was bombarded with questions about her experiences and her singing ability, but she just ignored them and went to the quieter Spotlight Lounge on deck 6, one deck above this one which Boleros was on.

She had just settled into the quiet when she heard someone behind her clear their throat. Turning around, the first thing she noticed was a pair of familiar bright blue eyes. Next, she saw blonde hair, slightly messy from having been outside in the breeze. It was him. Peeta Mellark. "Peeta…" she began, but he cut her off.

"Your song…songs…you sing so beautifully, Katniss. You never told me that you were such a good singer."

With a small, sad smile, she replied, "Well, you didn't really give me much of a chance. You've been ignoring and avoiding me for the last few days. Why did you do that, anyway? I just want to know if it was my fault because I'm really sorry if it is."

Peeta looked down at the floor for a minute before bringing his gaze back to meet Katniss's silver eyes. "Actually, it's mine. I'm sorry. When you mentioned about your boyfriend, Gale, was it…I just…overreacted. I mean…I probably should've seen it coming. There's no way that a girl as…amazing as you would be single. I guess I just got my hopes up. Can we still be friends, at least?" he asked finally, sticking his hand out for Katniss to shake if she agreed.

Ignoring the handshake that Peeta expected, Katniss tried to process everything she had just heard. Peeta thought Gale was her boyfriend and that's why he had ignored her? "Peeta…" she began slowly, making sure that she had his attention before continuing, "Gale isn't my boyfriend. He's just my best friend whom I just happen to tell everything. We're more like cousins than lovers. I've never really been into the whole love thing and boys don't exactly like me that way much because they claim that I'm 'too tough' for them. Wait…why are you so eager to 'forgive' me now? I'm pretty sure that an hour ago you were content with wanting nothing to do with me ever again."

"Well…you see…" Peeta began. Was he at a loss for words? That had not happened at all in just the few days that Katniss had gotten to know him. "I think it's because I heard you sing. It was truly amazing…how quickly that lounge quieted down. Everyone there must've been awed…just like me. From that moment…the moment that I started listening, I knew that I was a goner. No matter how hard I tried, I had to talk with you again, even if just to compliment you. Of course, I felt that, if I was going to break this silence to compliment you, I might as well apologize for my rash thoughts too. So…" he began to ask again, "friends?"

With a nod, Katniss confirmed the answer, "The best, Peeta."

A soft love song began to play in the lounge and Peeta held out his hand in invitation. In acceptance, Katniss softly placed her hand in his and allowed him to lead her in a slow dance.

_Oh my love, my darling__  
__I've hungered for your touch__  
__A long lonely time__  
__And time goes by so slowly__  
__And time can do so much__  
__Are you still mine?__  
__I need your love, I need your love__  
__God speed your love to me_

Katniss had never been to the school dances because...well, it'd just be awkward to go with Gale. This was the first time she had ever shared a slow dance with a boy. Surprisingly, (but also not so surprisingly) Peeta was a gentle leader. How often had he shared slow dances with girls? This was a question that Katniss did not want to ask him…at least, not yet. They had to continue to patch up their friendship first.

When the song ended, Peeta slowly dropped his hands and they broke apart. Before he could leave again, Katniss gave him a quick hug which he graciously returned. "I'm glad that we're friends again, Peeta. I definitely did not want to lose contact with you after this cruise ended."

He smiled and told her, "That will never happen…at least…if I have any control in the matter." Peeta was about to head back to his stateroom to get ready for the night since his family would be departing from the ship in the 9AM shift the next day. They had chosen to leave earlier because they had to travel back to New York once they got back. Katniss's family, on the other hand, had opted for the 10:30AM departure time (one of the latest options) because they all liked to sleep in sometimes.

Before Peeta headed out, Katniss asked him, "How about one last walk on the pool deck? Y'know, so it'll hold some good memories for us since the last time we were there was when…well…you know what happened…"

Peeta agreed and they walked, side-by-side, upstairs to the pool deck. Because it was late and many had already gone to bed, the deck was almost deserted. It was such a beautiful night as the ocean breeze rushed through their hairs. As they were walking past the pool, Katniss remembered something that had happened the first night that she had met Peeta. Now was her chance; he'd never be expecting it.

"Peeta, what's that?" she asked suddenly, pointing up in the sky to her left.

His gaze quickly shifted to where she was pointing. "What's what, Katniss?" he asked, slightly confused.

Taking this opportunity of confusion and using it to her advantage, Katniss pushed Peeta to his left a little. He did not have time to regain his footing before he tumbled into the adjacent pool. A minute later, he resurfaced, shaking pool water from his blonde hair. "Now what was that for?"

Katniss tried her hardest to be serious, but she couldn't stop the smile that crept onto her face. Seeing her smile made Peeta smile as well. There was no better answer, so Katniss simply told him, "Revenge."

* * *

**Well, I thought this chapter would be longer. However, it's not the length but the action that matters, correct? I know everyone's been asking for it, but I didn't want to rush it and I had the open mic night scene planned out from the start. The end scene, however, is another extra…just came up with that last night. Hard to believe that the cruise is almost over, but the story is not! There is one more chapter and then two epilogues. That's right, two of them!**

**Notes time: Obviously, 80-85% of this chapter is fictionalized. Even the open mic night. There was no open mic night on my cruise, but it had to be in there for Katniss and Peeta. The storm at the beginning happened, though. I think I even might have pictures of it. It was really cool. I'd never seen a storm out in the middle of the ocean (cause I'd never been in the middle of the ocean) before. The Ceremony of Flags was very neat to watch and I regret that I can't translate it's awesomeness into my words. Also, we really did have to set out our bags for the stewards to pick up…and the closing show was pretty cool. Almost forgot, we did buy pictures and my family did get a family portrait with the waiters and I was the one to take the picture. I believe the rest was made up just for the story. **

**I meant to get this out earlier, but I got so distracted by other things. Next time, we'll be back safely on land, so…until then…**

**Posted: August 11, 2012**

**Happy birthday, grandma. R.I.P.**

**I'm done being witty now, I swear…**


	8. Departure

**So…I apologize for not updating as fast. Let's just say that I have marching band camp now (starting on Wednesday), so I'll be busy for most of my days. However, I still try my best to update as much as I can. Almost forget, the Peeta POV is up and titled **_**Vacation That Changed His Life**_**. It's kinda a lame title, but I wanted the titles to be close enough to be obvious. Because this one's almost finished, I'm gonna probably continue to update this one first, but, if you're lucky, you may get updates to both stories in the same day. No guarantees, though.**

**It's almost the ending. After this, there's only the epilogue left. Feels like we just started. I know that I said there would be two, but this chapter ended up being too short without it, so I added epilogue 1 into it for length and for action (because it was lacking). Review replies and then we'll begin.**

_**It's Mellarkable**_**: Yeah, I thought that it would be too. If you remember back to when Peeta sang "Hero" (the Enrique Iglesias song) on the deck, that was why I even bothered putting that song in there.**

_**peetame**_**: Yeah, I liked that too. I really wanted to write "I volunteer as tribute!" but that wouldn't have worked…and Effie wasn't hosting it anyway. There may not be much to say about this chapter either. There's not any real Peeta/Katniss in this one…or the next one, I think. There is a lot of Katniss/Gale, though.**

_**InuYasha'sLoveKagome:**_** I know what you mean. It's so hard to write when Katniss and Peeta aren't together. They are just completely perfect.**

_**MaidenAlice**_**: Oh yes…Gale…well, he'll be in the rest of the story…**

* * *

Chapter 8: Departure

The stateroom phone rang and Katniss was grateful that it was later today that it had been for the last several days.

"You're going to miss these wake up calls, aren't you, Katniss?" That was her father's morning greeting.

Katniss growled slightly and told him. "We're up. What's the plan?"

"I was thinking one last quick breakfast at the Windjammer before we depart. Do you and Prim have all your stuff gathered? Time's gonna be tight."

Glancing quickly around in the dark room, Katniss mentally pictured where everything sat. "Yeah, we're good. The usual then? Meet you at your stateroom?"

Mr. Everdeen affirmed the answer to Katniss's question and the two sides disconnected the call. Putting the phone down, Katniss switched on the light and roused Prim, telling her the plans for the morning.

As Prim sat up in her bed, Katniss gathered her clothes for the day and headed for the bathroom. Even though the ship was completely stopped, she still felt herself sway as she walked. There must still be a fluid imbalance in her ears. Hopefully that would go away soon enough.

Prim changed into her day clothes in the stateroom as Katniss used the bathroom as her changing room. When they were both ready, they made their way down the hall to their parents' stateroom. Only one more time would they walk this hall; after breakfast and it would just be a brief stop to gather their last belongings before returning to the city where it had all started.

It was hard for Katniss to believe that Peeta and his family had already departed from the cruise ship by this time. The Mellark family would be en route back to New York now. Luckily, the previous night, as they had walked away from the pool deck, Peeta dripping wet with overly chlorinated water this time, they had exchanged phone numbers and promised to keep in touch. Peeta had told her that he had put his phone on "airplane mode" before they had boarded on that first day so he would add her number right away, but he would not leave until she had promised him that she would add his number first thing upon reaching land and making it through customs.

Breakfast that morning was uneventful, but there was no need to wait in long lines. By this time, many had already exited the ship. That was fine with Katniss; she had never enjoyed crowds anyway. After breakfast, the family returned to their two staterooms to grab their remaining bags.

As Katniss and Prim were preparing to leave, Katniss saw Prim walk to the thermostat and turn it down as low as it would go. When Katniss asked her about it, she said that it was just a "little joke". With a shake of her head and a smile, Katniss directed her sister to head out into the hallway so she could close the stateroom door. Once Prim had exited, Katniss took one final look around before softly shutting the door.

Exiting the ship was easy. It was getting through customs that was not. Even though it was late, there was still a backlog from those who had left earlier. It took so long to get through customs and all Katniss could think about the whole time was how the minute she was through, she would be turning her cell phone back on and finally answering Gale.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the family had made it through customs and proceeded to the luggage pick-up area. Because it was later in the morning, it was not hard to find their luggage and, before they knew it, they were outside the building and waiting for the hotel shuttle to take them back to pick up their old van.

While waiting, Katniss switched on her phone and was not surprised when it lit up with an unread text message from Gale. Another text message flashed onto her screen from a number not already in her phonebook. She didn't have to look it up to know who it belonged to. It was Peeta's number. Opening Peeta's text first, Katniss read I _know you won't get this right away, but I was really bored and thought 'I'll send Katniss a text'. I hate car rides with my family…_

Katniss's finger hovered over the reply button, but she stopped and let herself read Gale's message first. His was older than Peeta's, after all. Opening Gale's text message, she read _Okay, Catnip. Have a great time._

Quickly, hitting the reply button, she typed back, _I'm back. I can text again, Gale._

Katniss was not sure if Gale would even be awake this early. He always tended to sleep in during the summer, but, surprisingly, she got a reply back from him very quickly. _It's good to hear from you again. How was it?_

She didn't want to reveal too much to Gale over text message. Her adventures would be better told face-to-face, she decided. Replying simply, she told Gale,_ Better than I thought it would be, but I really want to see you. I should be home in early afternoon. Want to meet up sometime soon and talk about it?_

Again, his reply was very quick. Had Gale missed her that much that he was going to keep answering as if she would just disappear again if he didn't? _Sounds great. Maybe tomorrow. Would that work for you?_

She confirmed that meeting up with Gale the next day would be fine and continued to text him as the shuttle arrived and they picked up the family van. Katniss had truly forgotten how much she missed talking with Gale and she was glad that he was so eager to reply to her. Above all else, she was looking forward to hanging out with him the next day. How great it would be to see him again.

It wasn't until much later in the night that she realized it. She had broken her promise to Peeta by not adding his number to her phonebook first thing upon reaching land and making it safely through customs. In addition to that, she had never even answered his text. Had he been expecting a reply from her? This all doesn't make me a horrible person…right?

The next day came soon and Katniss was excited to meet up with Gale for a day in the city. Of course, the city itself was nothing spectacular, but it was the prospect of seeing Gale again that made everything better.

Gale drove over to Katniss's house and packed in the small driveway that was attached to the alley behind her house. He did this everytime he went to the city with Katniss. What did he need a car for once he got to Katniss's house? She already lived right in the city.

Together, they walked to their favorite coffeeshop. Inside, Katniss walked immediately to their favorite table while Gale placed the usual order. How many times had they done this? The workers here already knew them by name, what they bought, and where to deliver it once it was ready.

When Gale returned to the table, he sparked up the conversation. "So…how was it? Be more specific. That's what we're here for, Catnip."

Eagerly, Katniss detailed each day, but, not knowing how he would react, she left out many of the details that involved Peeta. When she had finished with a smile, Gale did not speak. He merely narrowed his eyes at her. This did not go unnoticed and she threw him a questioning look. _**Is he…angry?**_

After another few minutes of silence, Gale answered Katniss's unspoken question with one statement. "You've changed, Katniss."

His answer was cryptic. What was that supposed to mean? "I thought change was a good thing, Gale."

Taking a deep breath, Gale told her, "Not in this case. You were perfect just as you were. Something happened on that vacation. You met someone, didn't you? You met someone and have replaced me. Don't deny it. I can just tell."

Katniss nearly stood up in anger. "What is that supposed to mean, Gale? I couldn't stop thinking about you on the cruise." _**Not a lie**_, she told herself. _**At the beginning of the cruise, I had no idea how I would live without Gale**_. "When I was able to text again, I made sure to text you because I missed talking with you. In fact, I never even replied to Peeta's text, okay? I didn't reply to him because I wanted to talk to you."

Unfortunately for Katniss, she had just given Gale the exact answer he was looking for. Why did she keep slipping up like that? "So…his name is Peter? I knew it. Well, you like him so much then you hang out with him instead!"

"Actually, it's Peeta…and I can't. He lives in New York. Gale, I don't know why you're so angry. Peeta's…just a friend…like you. You two are both my friends and I like you both just the same."

Gale stood up. "Here's the way I see it. There can be only one. You have to make a choice, Katniss. You're going to have to choose the one you can't survive without. I will give you the space you need to make that choice."

With that said, he stormed away before their order was even finished. Katniss knew that she should leave too, but she felt completely rooted to her seat. How familiar this all seemed…except that Peeta had been gentler when she had stumbled and mentioned Gale. Why was life so insistent on making her choose between these two men? She wasn't in love with either of them…was she?

* * *

**This was just going to be a filler chapter, but I decided that would be completely boring. You're welcome. There wasn't even any music for this chapter…**

**Notes: The last story notes of the chapter. Well, I can't remember if we had breakfast that morning or not. I think we did, so I put it in there. Customs sucked. No two ways about it. My version in here was completely dumbed down. It was a lot worse. The lines were long and just for one minute in front of those officers. Wonderful USA. The rest of that is the same. Picking up luggage, waiting for the shuttle, and getting the family van. From there and the epilogue next chapter, it will be completely made up and new. Yay.**

**Well, my readers, have we seen the last of Gale? Does Katniss really have absolutely no feelings for Peeta or Gale? What does life have in store for "the girl on fire"? The answers to these questions and several others will be revealed in the wonderful epilogue. Until then…**

**P.S. I wrote this several days ago, so if there's any mistakes, don't hesitate to point them out so I can revise them.**

**Posted: August 22, 2012**


	9. Epilogue

**Here it is…the moment everyone's been waiting for…It's time for the epilogue, but don't you all worry. Even after this story concludes, Peeta's version will still be up and going strong. Well, I know that everyone wants to read this (and is looking forward to it), so I will just do some quick review replies and then get this all started.**

**readface: Yes, Gale is very moody. I don't think he's in this chapter, though. My bad for saying that he would be…**

**MaidenAlice: I do like Gale. However, I like Katniss being with Peeta more. Everytime I try to write a story with Gale in it, he's either controlling or he dies. Maybe someday I'll get around to writing a story where Gale is one of the good guys…**

**G (anonymous): Thanks for your review. Maybe someday I'll be able to get around to writing a longer fanfic for Hunger Games (more than 5-10 chapters). I'm glad you are enjoying this and the Peeta POV story as well.**

**Guest (anonymous): Well, there'll still be a bit of Gale, but he won't play a major role in this story. It's mostly Katniss and Peeta.**

**AHeart99: Thanks for your review. Here's the next update.**

* * *

Epilogue

With the absence of Gale from her life, Katniss had gotten back to texting Peeta. Even though there was now a distance between them and they both had lives, he always listened and would respond as soon as he could. She told him everything about what was going on with Gale and he would give her his own advice about the situation. Somehow, over the course of this all, they grew closer than they had on the cruise vacation. Katniss never thought that her friendship with Peeta would ever evolve into anything deeper. However, by the time Katniss's and Peeta's senior year hit, they had both decided to take their relationship to the next level.

Being in a long-distance relationship was new for Katniss and she was a little nervous at first that it wouldn't work out. However, she trusted Peeta completely and knew that he would be faithful to her, despite the distances between them. That spring, they both even made special trips to each other's hometowns so that they could go to the prom together at both of their schools. This was fun for both Katniss and Peeta because they were able to see the cities where the others lived. The only thing that Katniss didn't like was that her little tour around her small hometown could not come anywhere close to Peeta's. He drove her to New York City on the Saturday after prom, took her to a Broadway show, and then they had a fantastic and very expansive dinner (which he insisted on paying for entirely). A week later, it had been Katniss's turn. On the Saturday after her prom, she took Peeta on a 40-minute trip to the nearest amusement park which was open until early evening that day. Peeta insisted that he thoroughly enjoyed their date, but Katniss still felt ashamed that the cost of what she did for him was not even half that of what he had paid for her in New York City.

Sadly, they could not attend each other's graduation ceremonies, but they both made the effort to attend each other's graduation parties. Katniss could see how happy Peeta was to introduce his new girlfriend to his friends and Katniss was glad to meet them. As she expected, Peeta's mother hated her and made an effort to be at the bakery that day so she would not be there for the graduation party. The following weekend, Katniss held her graduation party. She was a little nervous because she had invited Gale as well and, if he came, it would be the first time that he would meet Peeta. As it turned out, Gale was working that day, but said that he might stop by later. Peeta and Katniss stayed together the whole time and she knew that he enjoyed meeting all her friends. Gale held true to his promise and stopped by after his work. He was a mechanic at his father's garage, so he had told Katniss that he probably wouldn't stay too long, but he was there. When he noticed Peeta and Katniss together, his eyes narrowed. Catching his change of expression, Katniss hurriedly introduced them, but she didn't have to; Gale already knew who Peeta was. Always the polite one, Peeta tried to talk with Gale and get to know him better, but Gale wanted no part of it and left without answering.

After that, Katniss had grown further from Gale and closer to Peeta. The years passed and they stayed together as a couple. Peeta continued to support Katniss in her college career and Katniss did the same for him. In the summer before their senior years of college were to begin, Peeta planned a day that Katniss would never forget.

Peeta had arranged the whole day, but he refused to tell Katniss about it. All she had known was that he would pick her up at her home and then "we'll go from there". Right on time, Peeta's truck pulled into the alley behind Katniss's house. Without missing a beat, she joined him in the truck and Peeta pulled out, heading to the highway.

"You can relax, Katniss. There's still a bit of a ride until we get to where we're going."

"Where is that, Peeta?" Katniss asked, quickly, hoping to throw him off and get an answer which she was still desperately seeking.

With a small laugh, Peeta told her gently, "You'll see soon enough. Just relax, okay?"

As it turned out, Peeta had arranged to go see a baseball game in Baltimore. Not only that, but he had managed to get tickets to see the game where Katniss's favorite team would be the away team. They had a quick dinner at the small Subway in the city again and then entered the stadium. Peeta had worn his New York Yankees cap and Katniss hoped he would be okay inside the stadium.

Peeta had arranged two fantastic seats within the stadium and, again, Katniss knew that she would not be able to top him; her family had a lot less money than Peeta's did. They sat, hand-in-hand, in their seats and watched batting practice. The stadium was alive with activity, but Katniss and Peeta were just there, silently enjoying each other's company.

A song played through the stadium as batting practice continued. Katniss turned her attention from the sight in front of her to listen to the lyrics that played all around her.

_I remember tears streaming down your face  
When I said "I'll never let you go"  
When all those shadows almost killed your light  
I remember you said "Don't leave me here alone"  
But all that's dead and gone and past tonight._

_Just close your eyes_  
_The sun is going down_  
_You'll be alright_  
_No one can hurt you now_  
_Come morning light_  
_You and I'll be safe and sound_

Stealing a quick glance over at Peeta, the two locked eyes. He smiled back softly and she knew that he had heard the words too. This song was one of promise and hope. Even in the darkest times, the song showed that as long as they were together, nothing extremely terrible could ever happen again because they would always have the other there to comfort them and help them through. After what had happened on that cruise ship, Katniss was glad that she had been able to grow so close to Peeta and to know that, no matter what, they would always be the best of friends.

The game was amazing and Katniss was glad to finally see her favorite team play live. If only her and Gale had not had their fall-out. He would love to hear about this, but, of course, if she was to tell him that Peeta had arranged it all, he would again be furious. Peeta was on the same side as her (just this once, he had warned with a smile) because he was a Yankees fan and wanted nothing more than to see Baltimore lose this game, both for himself and his girlfriend. Katniss was not a Yankees fan. In fact, she hated them, but she knew that Peeta was from New York and she loved Peeta, so (just this once, she had once told him with a smile), she could tolerate them.

Katniss's team took an early lead in the game and never looked back. The game ended with a big win for Katniss's favorite team. One of the high points of the game came about halfway through, when the big screen broadcasted what they called "The Kiss Cam". If they captured you on the screen, you had to kiss the person beside you who was always pictured on the screen. Looking up at just the right moment, Katniss saw her and Peeta displayed across the screen.

"Look," Peeta pointed out slightly. Leaning down, he kissed her gently, letting Katniss deepen the kiss herself.

When they broke apart again, Katniss sighed. "What luck that they would pick us for 'The Kiss Cam'."

"Well…it could've been worse…" Peeta reasoned.

They dropped the conversation after that. Neither wanted to think about how it could get worse.

As the crowds dispersed after the game, Katniss and Peeta hung back, neither ready to leave just yet.

"So, I was thinking that we could take a walk to Inner Harbor and hang around there for a while before heading back north. That sound alright to you, Katniss?"

With an affirmative nod from Katniss, the two left the baseball stadium and headed past the convention center and toward the harbor. It was about a twenty-minute walk, but that was also because the two had adopted a slow pace towards the harbor.

It was a beautiful night and a warm breeze blew in and out from the harbor, tousling both Katniss's and Peeta's hairs as they walked hand-in-hand.

"Kinda hard to believe that, two years ago, this is where it all started…sort of…" Katniss spoke up, looking out across the harbor and watching the waves ripple in and out.

"Yeah…" Peeta breathed out his answer softly. "I guess that's why I wanted to come back here…because there's no better place for…" he trailed off, startling Katniss who had not expected Peeta to end his sentence so abruptly.

"For what, Peeta?" she asked, looking over at him, watching him kneel down beside her. His firm grasp on her hands never left as he used one hand to reach into his jacket pocket.

"Katniss Everdeen…ever since I met you, I've felt blessed. You've made my life complete and I know that we've had our rough moments, but we've always managed to work through them. Therefore, it is with great pride that I say to you now that there is nothing that would make me happier than if you'd do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Peeta Mellark. I guess it all comes down to one question….Katniss…Marie…Everdeen….will you marry me?"

* * *

**There it is…the epilogue. Thanks for reading my story, everyone, and I hope you all read more of my works in the future.**

**Posted: August 31, 2012**


	10. The Wedding

**So…I know many wanted a sequel for this story…well…I am not confident that I could write a sequel to do this story justice…but…I have come up with a compromise. Here's the true final chapter. What's it about? Well…you'll just have to read…or you could see the chapter title and that'll give you all you need to know.**

**For those reading the Peeta POV story "Vacation That Changed His Life", I am also posting the next chapter of that story for your enjoyment as well.**

**There are pics for this chapter! Unfortunately... 's system does not allow me to post the links. (."). If you want to see them, let me know and I'll think of a way to make them known to you...**

**Review Replies:**

_**Maiden Alice**_**: Well…my intention was to write this as the true finale, but the last chapter seemed better if called the "epilogue". Hope this proves to be a better ending for you. **

_**rochay97**_**: This is about as close as I've got to a sequel. I know it sucks, but I just don't think I've got enough to do a sequel for this one.**

_**mockingjay5225**_**: Thanks. Here's one more chapter, but after this one, all that's left is the rest of Peeta's story…which will also have 10 chapters.**

_**PurpleQueen981**_**: Thanks. Here's just a little more.**

_**xprincesserinx**_**: It's not much, but here's a little more for you.**

_**peetame**_**: Thanks for your support throughout this story.**

_**InuYasha'sLoveKagome**_**: I feel so creative in replying, but...thanks for your support and for reading. … Maybe I should learn to be more creative. Haha.**

**Fanficlover1413: Thanks again for inquiring about the stories. I just wish I had more time. Thanks for all the compliments. It really does encourage me to keep writing for this fandom. Also, these stories are unrelated to _Austin_. Although, I am hoping to write some more stories based around the same storyline as _Austin_.**

**Now…time for the final (for real this time) chapter. Please enjoy.**

* * *

The Wedding

Together they had planned. Everything had to be perfect; Peeta, the perfectionist, wouldn't have it any other way. In the midst of their planning, Katniss and Peeta had moved into their own small apartment in New York City. It wasn't the best and it wasn't ideal, but it was home because, as they always say, "Home is where the heart is". Throughout their planning, Peeta continued to insist that he be the one to decorate their wedding cake since he was the expert, but Katniss refused to allow it. "This is a celebration. Don't do any more work than you have to do," she had insisted. Playfully, he had huffed, telling her that the cake just wouldn't be perfect then.

Finally, all had been set in place and the date approached. As they counted down the days together, Katniss began to wonder about the new experience coming up. She was not having second thoughts; there wasn't anyone else she'd ever want to be with if his name wasn't Peeta. However, she was nervous. Was this the right thing? What if things didn't work out? Was Peeta having thoughts like these too?

The two had decided that they wanted a simple ceremony, one with only families and close friends. Katniss had invited Gale and Peeta had invited Delly. He was certain that Delly would attend, but both were unsure about Gale. It was worth a try, though. When it was confirmed that Gale would attend, Peeta surprisingly, even though he had two older brothers, offered Gale the position of best man; an offer which Gale felt as if he couldn't decline. Katniss knew she had no choice but to choose Prim for her maid-of-honor, but she offered Delly a position as a bridesmaid. She had eagerly accepted. Katniss's other bridesmaids, since Peeta had no sisters, were some of her closer neighborhood friends from back home.

Time continued on, and, before Katniss knew it, the big day had arrived. Standing in front of a full-length mirror, she allowed her mother to help her into a simple wedding dress. Katniss, along with Prim and their mother, had picked out the dress and given Peeta no opportunity to see it. It was to be a surprise.

Once Katniss was wearing the dress, her mother fixed her hair and make-up while Prim handled the jewelry. After all was said and done, Prim and Mrs. Everdeen stepped back, leaving Katniss to stare silently at the mirror. She couldn't recognize herself and she knew that Peeta wouldn't be able to either.

Prim approached slowly and Katniss turned to see her sister who looked older in her bridesmaid dress. Katniss and the bridal party had chosen simple dresses, sky-blue in color with a white tie across the middle. The color had been Katniss's idea; she loved how it matched Peeta's beautiful eye color. Caught up in the moment, Katniss did not hear the words that her sister had spoken. Apologizing, she asked her little sister to repeat whatever it was that she had said. "Ready?"

It was time for the bridesmaids to leave the dressing room; the procession was beginning. In only a short amount of time, Katniss Everdeen would become Katniss Mellark. As the bridesmaids left, Katniss's mother approached to tell her that she was leaving to return to the crowd. Squeezing her daughter's shoulder, Mrs. Everdeen congratulated her and told her how proud she was of her eldest daughter.

The dressing room cleared out and Katniss waited. Would this all just be a dream and she would wake up back in that little Pennsylvania suburb in a time before she had met Peeta Mellark? She waited for the room to fade away into blackness, but it never happened. Leaving the room, she silently thanked God that this moment was real; she could never imagine a life without Peeta.

Approaching the church sanctuary, her heart raced. Now she could hear the music. It was slow and melodic, a perfect beat for the procession. As she walked slowly to the open church doors, glimpses from inside become visible. The church was small and, where there were normally pews, there were fold-up chairs. On the right side of the sanctuary, Katniss saw members of her own family and on the left, there were members of Peeta's family. She had not yet met some of them and looked forward to getting to know them someday.

Taking a breath to calm her nerves, Katniss linked arms with her father at the door and together they entered the sanctuary. As they walked down the aisle, the two families in the crowd stood up, silently admiring Katniss. Her attention was not focused on them, though. Instead, she gazed up ahead to where he stood waiting. His blond hair had been slicked back and he wore a simple tux with a sky blue tie to match the bridesmaids' dresses. Locking eyes with Peeta, they both confirmed, with their gazes, their desire to go through with this ceremony.

When Katniss and her father reached the end of the aisle, he silently gave her a quick hug before returning to the seating area. She knew what that meant. Her father had gone through this very same ceremony years ago and now it was her turn. Only alone could she walk this path now. Walking to the altar, she stepped up to Peeta, taking his hands into her own. She could tell that he was stunned and that was exactly why she had held off showing him her dress; she had wanted to know what he really thought.

In a soft whisper, he told her, "You look beautiful." Her reply was a quick whispered "Thank you."

The rest of the ceremony flashed by before Katniss could even realize that she and Peeta had both agreed to their vows. However, it didn't feel real until Peeta's vows had concluded and he learned down to share their first kiss as the new Mr. and Mrs. Mellark.

Everyone in the crowd cheered and the new couple received a standing ovation from their families and close friends. Once the cheers had quieted down and everyone in the crowd had again taken their seats, the preacher concluded with "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Peeta Mellark!"

Applause from the crowd combined with music to create a memorable scene for the procession out of the church. The bridesmaids and groomsmen led the way followed by Peeta and Katniss Mellark, who had linked arms while the rest of their bridal party had begun to walk out of the sanctuary.

Once the bridal party had all left the sanctuary, the guests followed them out and everyone met outside the church building where there was an abundance of picture-taking and bubble blowing. Peeta had arranged the spot for the reception, so he made sure that everyone, especially Katniss's family, knew how to get there. After that was taken care of Peeta joined Katniss in their white limousine.

Time slowed down and sped up all at once. Katniss didn't know her way around New York City on any average day, but today she especially had no idea how to navigate The Big Apple; she was lost in the ocean of her husband's eyes. _Husband_. That's right. Peeta was her husband and she was Mrs. Mellark. She had to keep reminding herself that this was not just a dream. Everything had actually happened.

All too soon the limousine pulled up in front of the place Peeta had chosen for the reception. By this time, the guests should be situated and ready for their grand entrance. Upon entering the building, Katniss and Peeta again met up with their bridal party. They would enter one-by-one into the next room.

Just like at the church, the bridesmaids and groomsmen entered first. Once Prim and Gale entered, it would be Katniss and Peeta's turn. Slowly they approached the door, waiting to hear the song they'd chosen; that would be their cue to enter.

The soft drum beats and guitar sounds of their chosen song played out and the two newlyweds stepped into the room as the overly-sweet lyrics began:

_Maybe it's intuition__  
__But some things you just don't question__  
__Like in your eyes__  
__I see my future in an instant__  
__And there it goes__  
__I think I've found my best friend__  
__I know that it might sound more than a little crazy__  
__But I believe_

_I knew I loved you before I met you__  
__I think I dreamed you into life__  
__I knew I loved you before I met you__  
__I have been waiting all my life_

The song continued, but Katniss stopped listening as she looked around the small room which was filled with people she knew and others that she hoped to get to know. After a few minutes, Peeta led her to their table where the others in the bridal party had already taken their seats.

Before the meal was to be served, there was to be a toast to the new bride and groom. The speeches would be led first by the best man and then followed by one by the maiden-of-honor. Gale stood up to begin and the room grew silent, wondering what he would say. Katniss herself was nervous about this speech; Gale and Peeta had never actually gotten along that well.

Clearing his throat, Gale looked out to the small gathering of people. "Well…to be honest, I don't really know what to say. I don't really know Peeta Mellark all that well, but I do know how much Katniss feels for him. When he asked me to be his best man, I really did not know how to respond. A part of me almost declined, but…still…I did choose to accept the offer. Just seeing these two together, I've come to learn that…there really is no perfect pair than these two right here. I wish you two all the best in your new life together." Upon finishing, he raised his champagne glass to his lips and drank half of its contents. Those in the audience and those around the bridal table followed his lead.

Once Gale had again taken his seat, Prim stood up next. Her voice, softer and lighter than Gale's, did not carry as well through the room, but it was okay because it was a small room."I knew from the moment I actually met Peeta that he would be the best choice for my sister. He's one of the sweetest guys I've ever met and I can't imagine my sister's life without him. It's my honor to be here today to give my congratulations and best wishes to the new couple." Prim, because she was still not yet 21, had a glass of sparkling white grape juice (as did all the other younger attendees in the crowd). Just as Gale had done, she lifted her glass and finished the remaining half. Everyone else followed and, thus, the toasting ceremony was complete.

Next, it was time for dinner. Peeta and Katniss together (but mainly Peeta) had chosen what was to be served. Peeta's father helped to organize the catering of food from his bakery, such as dinner rolls and the wedding cake. Everyone took their time eating dinner because the cutting of the cake was to follow.

When Peeta and Katniss had finished eating their own dinners, they walked to the table where the cake sat, just waiting to be cut. The cake, despite Peeta's protests that he should design it, had been designed, instead, by his father. Katniss thought it was perfect and did not care which Mellark had made it.

The newlyweds stood behind the table where a cutting knife lay on top of a pile of thick formal napkins. Both looked at the knife before Peeta urged Katniss to be the one to cut the cake. In response, she gave him a small nod and picked up the knife. As the gathered crowd cheered, Katniss carefully cut through the layers and until she had freed a perfectly-sliced piece. Passing the knife to Peeta, he did the same.

Peeta was the first to pick up a fork from the table and slice a smaller piece from his own piece of cake. He fed that piece to Katniss. She then did the same for Peeta, but, before he could react, she smirked and playfully smashed the rest of the piece of cake into Peeta's face. The boy did not immediately wipe the icing from his face. Instead, he smirked back. Katniss recognized that smirk. "This means war!" That's what it meant. There was no time for Katniss to react before Peeta repeated Katniss's own moves, this time smashing the rest of his cake into her face. The scene that played out was ludicrous. Katniss and Peeta, both covered in icing, laughing uncontrollably while the gathered crowd broke out in applause and laughter.

The bride and groom each grabbed a napkin and cleared the icing off of their faces. Peeta and his father continued to cut the cake and serve pieces to everyone. After eating the cake, the rest of the reception was dedicated to dancing. As was tradition, Katniss and Peeta were automatically awarded the first dance. Together, they had chosen the perfect song and they were eager for this moment.

Peeta stepped up to the dance floor and held out his hand which Katniss graciously accepted. Time slowed as the guitar chords began.

_I guess the time was right for us to say__  
__We'd take our time and live our lives__  
__Together day by day__  
__We'll make a wish and send it on a prayer__  
__We know our dreams will all come true__  
__With love that we can share_

_With you I never wonder-will you be there for me__  
__With you I never wonder-you're the right one for me__  
__I finally found the love of a lifetime__  
__A love to last my whole life through__  
__I finally found the love of a lifetime__  
__Forever in my heart__  
__I finally found the love of a lifetime_

The two swirled in time to the ballad and there was not a sound in the reception hall. All eyes were glued to this moment. Katniss's eyes, however, were glued only to Peeta's soft blue ones. In his eyes, she could see his silent enthusiasm. He had been just excited for this moment as she.

_With every kiss, our love is like brand-new__  
__And every star up in the sky__  
__Was made for me and you__  
__Still we both know that the road is long__  
__We know that we will be together__  
__Because our love is strong_

_I finally found the love of a lifetime__  
__A love to last my whole life through__  
__I finally found the love of a lifetime__  
__Forever in my heart__  
__I finally found the love of a lifetime_

_I finally found the love of a lifetime__  
__A love to last my whole life through__  
__I finally found the love of a lifetime__  
__Forever in my heart__  
__I finally found the love of a lifetime_

The song drew to its close and Katniss laid her head on Peeta's chest as the dance ended. At the end, they shared another soft kiss before breaking apart and turning to face the crowd who applauded the wondrous sight before them.

Following this were the specialty dances. Peeta had opted out of a mother-son dance due to him having strained relations with his mother, so Katniss and her father shared a dance. It had been planned after this dance that the rest of the night would be time to just openly dance to the playing music, but, of course, it just wouldn't be right if Peeta didn't plan in a secret surprise.

About halfway through the open dancing period, Peeta arranged to take the microphone from the DJ. Katniss was taken completely off-guard when Peeta's voice rang through the room. "Hey, so…I think Katniss should sing something for us all. If you haven't heard, she's a great singer."

Katniss immediately blushed as all eyes turned to her. She started to back up to leave the room, but before she could, guests started a steady chant that consisted of one word. "Sing." She debated her options, but the chant continued. "Sing! Sing! Sing!" Finally, she gave in.

Slowly, Katniss walked up to the stage where the DJ booth sat. She whispered to the DJ and told him her selected song which she would perform for the audience. It took him a minute to find it, but once he found it, he turned it on so that Katniss would have a beat. The rest was up to her.

_I don't know what it is that makes me love you so__  
__I only know I never want to let you go__  
__'Cause you've started something__  
__Oh, can't you see?__  
__That ever since we met__  
__You've had a hold on me__  
__It happens to be true__  
__I only want to be with you_

_It doesn't matter where you go or what you do__  
__I want to spend each moment of the day with you__  
__Oh, look what has happened with just one kiss__  
__I never knew that I could be in love like this__  
__It's crazy but it's true__  
__I only want to be with you_

_You stopped and smiled at me__  
__And asked if I'd care to dance__  
__I fell into your open arms__  
__And I didn't stand a chance__  
__Now listen honey__  
__I just want to be beside you everywhere__  
__As long as we're together, honey, I don't care__  
__'Cause you've started something__  
__Oh, can't you see?__  
__That ever since we met__  
__You've had a hold on me__  
__No matter what you do__  
__I only want to be with you_

_Oh, oh, you stopped and you smiled at me__  
__And asked if I'd care to dance__  
__I fell into your open arms__  
__And I didn't stand a chance__  
__Now hear me tell you__  
__I just want to be beside you everywhere__  
__As long as we're together, honey, I don't care__  
__'Cause you've started something__  
__Oh, can't you see?__  
__That ever since we met__  
__You've had a hold on me__  
__No matter what you do__  
__I only want to be with you__  
__I said no matter, no matter what you do__  
__I only want to be with you__  
_

Once Katniss finished, there was a quick moment of silence while everyone stared in awe at her talent. Peeta, always the gracious man, began to applaud and everyone else quickly followed suit until the room roared with cheers.

When the applause and cheering died down, Katniss took the microphone. "Thank you," she began, taking a minute to gather her thoughts. "Thank you," she spoke again before continuing, "Music has always been a big part of my life, a cherished gift I got from my father. I think I can be certain that it is because of this talent that I am here today…and I know Peeta can attest to this." She spared a glance at him and saw him smile; he knew exactly what was meant by this comment. "I am super excited to begin my life as 'Katniss Mellark' and, in addition to music, I can thank my trip aboard The Royal Caribbean _Enchantment of the Seas_. It was on this very trip that I met a very special friend who became the love of my life. So…thank you to my litter sister Primrose. If not for her nagging, we may never have booked that trip and I would never have come to know Peeta Mellark. Thank you, Prim, this truly was the vacation of a lifetime!"

…..

_[Donna Lewis]__  
__We were strangers starting out on a journey__  
__Never dreaming what we'd have to go through__  
__Now here we are and I'm suddenly standing__  
__At the beginning with you_

_[Richard Marx]__  
__No one told me I was going to find you__  
__Unexpected, what you did to my heart__  
__When I lost hope, you were there to remind me__  
__This is the start_

_[chorus]__  
__And life is a road and I wanna keep going__  
__Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing__  
__Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey__  
__I'll be there when the world stops turning__  
__I'll be there when the storm is through__  
__In the end, I wanna be standing__  
__At the beginning with you_

_[both]__  
__We were strangers on a crazy adventure__  
__Never dreaming how our dreams would come true__  
__Now here we stand, unafraid of the future__  
__At the beginning with you_

_[chorus]__  
__And life is a road and I wanna keep going__  
__Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing__  
__Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey__  
__I'll be there when the world stops turning__  
__I'll be there when the storm is through__  
__In the end, I wanna be standing__  
__At the beginning with you_

_Knew there was somebody somewhere__  
__Like a light in the dark__  
__Now I know that dreams will live on__  
__I've been waiting so long__  
__Nothing's gonna tear us apart_

_And life is a road and I wanna keep going__  
__Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing__  
__Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey__  
__I'll be there when the world stops turning__  
__I'll be there when the storm is through__  
__In the end, I wanna be standing__  
__At the beginning with you_

_Life is a road and I wanna keep going__  
__Love is a river, I wanna keep going on__  
__Starting out on a journey__  
__Life is a road and I wanna keep going__  
__Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing__  
__In the end, I wanna be standing__  
__At the beginning with you_

_First, I want to thank all those who read this story. I really did look forward to updating this one because it was loved. All those who reviewed (I've thanked you by adding the replies section in the opening A/Ns [I never used to do that]). Thanks also to those who faved and all that. You've all made this trip aboard The Enchantment of the Seas a memorable experience. _

_This journey may be at its end, but Peeta's is still going. I invite you to check it out if you so choose. I've never written a parallel story before, so it's quite the experience. Lastly, a "credits" section would not be complete without listing the soundtrack, so here it is (in order of appearance):_

_Opening theme: _"_Somewhere Out There"—Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram_

"_How Do I Live?"—Leann Rimes_

"_Time, Love, and Tenderness"—Michael Bolton_

"_Crash and Burn"—Savage Garden_

"_Get This Party Started"—P!nk_

"_The One"—Backstreet Boys_

"_Livin' La Vida Loca"—Ricky Martin_

"_Chasing The Sun"—The Wanted_

"_Glad You Came"—The Wanted_

"_I Want You"—Savage Garden_

"_Hero"—Enrique Iglesias_

"_Perfect"—P!nk_

"_When You Say Nothing At All"—Allison Krause_

"_Hero"—Mariah Carey_

"_Unchained Melody"—The Righteous Brothers_

"_Safe and Sound"—Taylor Swift_

"_I Knew I Loved You"—Savage Garden_

"_Love of a Lifetime"—Firehouse_

"_I Only Want To Be With You"—Samantha Fox (originally by Dusty Springfield)_

_Ending Theme: _"_At The Beginning"—Donna Lewis and Richard Marx_

_Soundtrack in stores now…(gotta have some humor, right?)_

_All credit given where credit is due. Nothing and nobody was harmed in the production of this feature._


End file.
